16|Retail News|September 2016|www.retailnews.ie
Retail News Interview
90 Years A Growing As Keelings celebrates nine decades in business, David Keeling, CEO of Keelings Retail, discusses the evolution of the company from a small family farm into the largest producer and supplier of fresh fruit in Ireland.
KEELINGS is Ireland’s largest supplier and producer of fresh fruit, supplying over half of Ireland’s annual strawberry crop (over 150m strawberries) and 90% of the country’s peppers (six million peppers), with a turnover of around €300m. The Keelings family story stretches all the way back to 1896 when their family worked a farm in the Donabate area of County Dublin. The current farm was established in 1926 and from the early 1920s to the late 1960s, rhubarb was one of their main crops. In the 1930s, they began growing fruits and salads and supplying them to local Dublin markets. They first planted strawberries in 1937, with Bramleys following in 1949. Since then, they have expanded their range and 2013 saw the launch of the “Love To Grow” brand. Today, in addition to growing berries on their farms, Keelings also grow peppers, lettuce, pumpkins and even Irish lilies. We talk to David Keeling, CEO of Keelings Retail, about the evolution of the company from a small family farm into the global force it is today.
Pictured are (l-r): Caroline Keeling, CEO of Keelings; William Keeling,
Managing Director of FoodCentral; Joe Keeling, Chairman, Keelings; and You are celebrating 90 years in business, which is quite an achievement for any firm. Why do you think David Keeling, CEO of Keelings Retail. the Keelings business has lasted so long? We are absolutely thrilled to be celebrating 90 years this demand for fresh fruit straight from our farms. year and we’re looking forward to the next 90! It’s an Why it’s lasted so long is down to hard work, plain and incredible feeling for us to be where we are today, as an Irish simple. We are very passionate about what we do, we love family business. We officially celebrated our 90th birthday to grow – it’s part of our motto – and we love to share our with the launch of our very own Farm Shop on site, which growing experience, as well as the resulting products, with in itself goes to show how far we’ve come – there is such our loyal customers and consumers.