With a history as rich as its muffins, Milish Bakery has been baking scrumptious treats for more than 60 years. Milish’s strong roots within Dublin’s historic high street bakeries is an important part of that journey, and the bakery has recently updated its name to reflect this. Sales Director Gillian Wilson spoke exclusively to Inside Food & Drink to explain more about this exciting development. Report by Imogen Ward.
Initially set up by Kitty Coghlan and her brother Liam in 1959, as KC Confectionary, the company took Dublin’s fresh bakery sector by storm. Under the management of current Owner, Liam Coghlan Jr, the bakery continued to evolve.
After Liam Jr took over the business in 1989, the bakery went through a major rebrand, changing its name to Milish Foods (Inspired from the Gaelic Cáca Milis, meaning sweet cake). The new name brought with it a change in direction for the bakery, and its renowned specialism of muffins and scones was born.
Now, with its 65th anniversary around the corner, Milish has transformed once again: this time to embrace a rich heritage and the skill set of an amazing team. Under the name Milish Bakery, the company has lots of exciting things planned.
“Milish is a craft bakery, and the people here have such pride in what they do,” said Sales Director Gillian Wilson. “We really wanted to communicate that
externally – to let people know we are a fabulous specialist bakery. That’s what the new brand is all about. Over the past few months, we have modernised the whole brand and launched our new website.
“We’ve already had amazing feedback. What’s even more special is the enthusiasm of the team. There’re people who have worked here for over 30 years, and the rebrand has lifted everyone spirits.”
Dedicated to Dublin
Milish’s state-of-the-art facility in Dublin covers 3,500sqm and is home to 100 passionate employees. With the help of these individuals, the bakery has honoured its history with the perfect blend of modern and traditional techniques that leave consumers wanting more.
“Liam has always been committed to providing premium quality,” said Ms Wilson. “Of course, we could buy a lot of machinery and focus in on the efficiency of that, but in doing so, that premium essence would be lost. Liam will only invest
in machines that retain the core quality of each product.
“The traditional methods go right back to Kitty Coghlan in her shed. We don’t use premix for anything; we make every recipe from scratch with fresh ingredients, and even blend our own cocoa powder mixes.”
Thanks to Milish’s dedication to the craft, the bakery can adjust each recipe to best suit its customers, producing muffins and scones that are unique and retain that authentic homemade feel.
Batch-baking is also an essential step in Milish’s recipe for success. “Rather t han running a fully mechanised production line with external variables, we batchbake all our products,” Ms Wilson said. “In doing so, we can tweak the process to ensure a premium bake every time.”
When it comes to making the perfect muffin or scone, the ingredients list is crucial. Milish believes in supporting
sustainable baking, and in doing so always aims to purchase fresh ingredients locally and direct from growers. All the chocolate within Milish’s muffins is Rainforest Alliance Certified, and the company only purchases palm oil from sustainably certified sources. The bakery’s packaging is also made from previously recycled material that can be recycled once again.
Unique muffins for the UK
Milish is fully equipped to handle any future increases in demand. Not only is the bakery’s current facility prepped to generate the business’ target of double the current production output, but the building also has space for an additional production line. Should even more space be required, the bakery has an additional plan in place.
“If we reach full capacity, we also own a large greenfield site next door,” Ms Wilson
explained. “It has already been fitted with basic foundations, so doubling the size of our factory with a purpose-built facility would be a quick and straightforward process. The greenfield site is a huge asset to us because buying land in Dublin is an almost impossible feat.”
Future facilities are not the only potential expansion on the cards for Milish. Having previously broken into the UK market, the bakery is hoping to further expand its presence there.
“As a business, Milish has supplied the UK market for a number of years,” Ms Wilson said. “but there are still a lot of UK-based buyers that don’t even know who we are or what we do. This really solidified our decision to rebrand and expand.
“In a time of the cost-of-living crisis and the pressures on health, now more than ever people need an affordable
indulgence. We believe that’s what we bring to the market, and we are seeing a growing demand for that.”
Regional recipes
Innovation is also a big factor of Milish’s operations, with product development a continuous endeavour. The bakery even accounts for the varying tastes and preferences of each market.
“We’re very aware that the same flavours don’t suit every region,” Ms Wilson said.
“When developing new recipes,
we always consider local flavours and tastes. At the moment we make blueberry and hemp muffins for the Danish market: those aren’t sold anywhere else because it is very specific to that country’s tastes. We even made a promotional line of egg liquor muffins for a customer in Germany this year.
Ingenious inventions:
Over the years, Milish has developed some amazing and outright unusual product ideas; some of which include the fantastical unicorn muffins and the more daring pink lemonade muffins that come complete with their own sugar-crafted straws.
Everybody thought we were mad, but that product is perfect for that market.”
This year, the bakery also successfully launched vegan muffins, which look, taste and feel like a standard muffin. These creative developments would
not be possible without Milish’s ingenious product development team.
“We have an amazing NPD team run by Technical Director Gary McCarney,” said Ms Wilson. “He’s been working for the c ompany for over 20 years, and there’s nothing about a muffin or a scone that Gary doesn’t know. The entire team is exceptionally experienced and isn’t afraid to develop new products or adapt our old recipes.
“For a lot of bakeries within the food industry, it’s all about efficiency and driving the prices down. That is important of course; we also have efficiencies and offer value for money, but we believe tha t o ur ability to give customers a product that is unique to them is what makes
us special. From our choice of paper cases to ingredients and unique toppings, we can adjust every element to our clients’ requirements.”
When discussing her role at Milish, Ms Wilson’s joy really shone through: “It’s a fantastic place to work: everyone here has so much passion and care, and they really love what they do. They care abou t the quality, and having a skilled team that is committed and takes pride in the excellence of a product really makes all the difference
“For Milish it’s all about craft, care and passion with every bake,” she concluded. “That ethos has worked for us since 1959 and will continue to do so in our next chapter as Milish Bakery.” n
