A country practice

From a family-farming enterprise in north Dublin, dating back to the late 1800s, to a mega agri-food business with more than 500 employees nationwide, the Hoey family has been flying the flag for food production for almost two centuries. Michael Hoey and his brother Gabriel set up Country Crest in 1993 but they are fourth-generation farmers first and foremost and that underpins everything they do. 

From farming to other business

“We have been farming for a long time mainly growing potatoes,” says Michael. “There has been a huge revolution in the way consumers buy and consume food over the years,” he says. That revolution helped to pave the way for Country Crest he adds. “With Country Crest, we went from being a single entity to being an actual company,” says Michael. Describing the first few years of business, he says the main operation centred around growing potatoes and later, onions, for the retail sector. That involved a substantial investment in 1999 of a €3.8m state-of-the-art facility for washing, grading and packing potatoes. And in the mid-2000s, they further invested €4m in a high-end onion grading, packing, drying and storage facility. “Years later, the onion and potato volumes started to drop due to higher consumer demand for rice and pasta, and that’s when we realised we had to do something to compete with it all,” he says.

And so, it was time for another change and Country Crest began manufacturing and supplying vegetable accompaniments and prepared food under a new company name.

Ballymaguire Foods

Ballymaguire Foods, set up in 2008, with Edward Spelman as its driving force, prepares meals in partnership with several well-known retailers around Ireland. Chances are that if you shop in either Tesco, SuperValu, Centra, Aldi, or Lidl, you have most likely bought – or seen – one of their packaged meals. “We do everything for these shops – from product development to meal development to packaging and delivering,” says Michael. When it comes to meal choices, Ballymaguire has it all. “From fish pies to sweet and sour chicken, to Indian food, to lighter meals such as soups and even sauces, there is something for everyone in each of our meals,” he adds.

And feeding Ballymaguire Foods’ large appetite is Country Crest; it is a 24-hour operation that does not stop, says Michael. “We are in constant production, and that can be challenging because we must be mindful of the food that we produce. Before any meal makes it out there, we must make sure that it is safe to send; that it is top quality and that it is always fresh,” says Michael. The next phase of Ballymaguire Foods, which involves expansion of its food-production facility is expected to be complete by spring of 2026, says Michael.

The team behind the scenes

Behind every successful business is a great team. Michael agrees: “We are blessed to have a really good team of people in place,” he says. “Everyone – from agronomy to livestock specialists, to those in product development and those on the transport side – is very capable and knowledgeable and we couldn’t do what we do without them.”

As the company evolves and employee numbers grow – more than 500 employees in total, with 12 working on the farm-side of the operation – Michael makes sure to invest more than enough time and resources for proper training. “For our staff, we continuously offer training courses and provide as many opportunities for growth as possible,” he says. “We are constantly on the lookout to offer promotions. Staff happiness is extremely important to us,” adds Michael. “They are the backbone of everything we do every single day.”

Training and development

Michael says they are also very keen to invest in the younger generation looking to join the agri-food sector. He tells us how they closely work with universities and farming students to provide internship opportunities and development courses. He hopes that a lot of these students, once graduated, will come and work for the company. A good example of this is their close relationship with Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) where they help to equip culinary arts graduates with the right knowledge and skills necessary to succeed.

Adapting to new technologies

To complement the company’s investment in personnel and training, Michael explains that there is also ongoing investment in adapting the latest technological advancements in the field. “We grow a wide range of crops, which involves a lot of diversification,” Michael says. “One of the best systems we currently have is the StarFire system [a GPS developed by John Deere]. It has given us access to real-time traceability and recording.” Michael continues: “Precision steering has been a massive breakthrough for our tractors, driven on by our farm manager, Thomas Murphy. The recording of the different types of seeds and times can tell us a lot about crop failure and how it can be predicted and prevented. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been huge for us in recent years. Yes, it’s hard to keep up with all of it but we have been able to adapt the new systems very quickly.”

The Hoey family was ahead of the curve when, in 2009, they procured an 80m on-site wind turbine that supplied the company with 70 per cent of its energy needs. The plan is to have second turbine in place in mid 2025, says Michael.

AD plant setback

This year commenced with great ambitions for Country Crest to develop an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility on a 7.28-hectare site at the Lusk-based enterprise. But at the end of February, Fingal County Council had refused the planning application. It was a huge disappointment, Michael says, particularly as they had previously received planning permission for an AD plant, which had expired in 2023. So, the Hoey family and a team of specialists spent 18 months working on a very detailed new application. This most recently proposed development would comprise AD tanks and processing equipment, feedstock storage facilities and equipment, silage storage clamps, digestate management and storage facilities. Additionally, Michael explains, carbon dioxide from the production of the renewable biomethane would be captured for reuse in the Irish food industry.
Government has stated that 150 to 200 AD plants are required to meet  its biomethane production target of 5.7TWh by 2030. AD facilities are quite common in Northern Ireland and around Europe but Ireland has a lot of catching up to do.

“We are disappointed that we got rejected,” Michael says.
“I think the Government hasn’t properly communicated with the local authorities and this has, in turn, created a huge disconnect that needs to be addressed.

“They are so many of them already around the world, but we are still having a hard time here in Ireland educating the general public on why they are so essential,” he says. According to Michael, some of the areas the council ‘failed’ them on included zoning, the height of the plant, and what it can do to the environment, among other things. For Michael, rejection doesn’t equate to stopping and, at the time of interview, he and his colleagues were already meeting with engineers to address the planning refusal with a view to appealing the decision. 

That planning appeal is currently with An Bord Pleanála and a decision is due in July. "We need more of these units in place. I think people are getting the wrong message here, thinking they do more harm than good and that’s not the case,” says Michael.

Pivotal moments

When asked about some of the most pivotal moments he has witnessed while in business, Michael says one stands out clearly: “We have had a lot of pivotal moments over the years, but probably one that stands out the most is the horse meat crisis and the fear that it put into our customers,” he says. Back in 2013, it emerged that some foods advertised in the EU as containing beef were found to have also contain undeclared or improperly declared horse meat. It rocked the sector. “This put a lot of fear into our customers, and they lost complete trust in us,” says Michael. He adds: “The year after the crisis was a difficult one for us. We had to work hard to regain and build that confidence with our consumers and make sure they knew that our products were safe to consume,” he says. Other pivotal moments, he recalls, include some of the wettest winters on record, and the negative impact of them on farmers and on business. “We have learned a lot of hard lessons along the way,” says Michael.

How business decisions are made

When it comes to business decisions and staying ahead of the competition, Michael says there are three key considerations – customers, sustainability, and transparency.

“A huge component of what we do and how we do it is our work with our customers,” he says. “Sustainability is another massive part of what we do, from local sustainability to supporting different initiatives and charities. It’s all about giving back to the community. Lastly, the business must always be transparent. It must tick all the right boxes,” he tells us.

From fundraisers, to sending food to the Ukraine and Haiti, to supporting a wide range of local clubs, schools and colleges, and working on projects to ‘help build sustainable communities in developing countries’ Country Crest is always keen to give back. “Farming is a hard life, there’s no doubt about that,” says Michael. “But it is so important that we keep it running and alive.”