Features
New to Organic Certification
Flourish Organics - Geraldine and Klaus Woessner
Flourish Organics is making a name for its beautifully presented natural cosmetics and skincare range. It all started some eight years ago when aromatherapist and reiki master, Geraldine Woessner, was looking around for quality essential oils and products to use in her business. Having researched available commercial products, she was appalled to find how bad some of the standard products were and she began to experiment with making her own. It was small scale at first, selling in her local markets at Milltown and Rathmore in Kerry. Soon the word spread about the quality of her products and, following a trip to Rude Health at the RDS, she gained a wider audience. Now her products are available at outlets in Kerry, Cork, Dublin and Galway as well as on line. “For us, organic certification is the proof of quality and we are getting good feedback from customers,” says Klaus, her husband and marketing guru.
The couple have been busy in recent weeks re-vamping their website and getting their new range of products to an eager public. Their expanded range includes face cream, cleanser, toner and scrub as well as jasmine face oil. Body care items range from vitamin E lotion and almond oil scrub to a relaxing peppermint foot oil. Products are also available for sensitive skin and pregnancy care. “We are very careful about choosing the finest ingredients that are pure and luxurious,” says Klaus . “Geraldine’s knowledge of aromatherapy is a great help in developing products and we get great feedback on the scent and smell of our products.”
For more visit flourishcosmetics.net, contact Flourish at 064 7753059 or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Dexter Beef Company - Sarah O’Riordan and Paddy Fenton
Paddy Fenton’s interest in Dexter cattle goes back to his days as a student at UCD. The farm at Lyons Estate had a lone Dexter cow that he became very fond of. “They are lovely animals but practically died out as a native breed until farmers started bringing them back from the UK,” he says. Now Paddy, along with Steve Collins and Sean Dinneen, is part of a group of seven farmers who produce dexter beef for the market and share profits from the venture. They began with an outlet at the Dingle Market but found that it was difficult to achieve a decent profit margin purely from selling the cuts of meat. “We wanted to cook and sell the meat but we couldn’t do that at the market,” he says. “We want to sell our product as locally as possible so we have put the ‘Dingle Dexter’ on the road.” This is a van modelled on a railway carriage which will be sited at various locations where the public can access freshly cooked dexter meat. The group also supply to the Park Hotel in Killarney where, according to Paddy, the chef is delighted with the quality of the meat. “It has a strong, almost gamey, flavour and the meat is well marbled,” he says. “We can’t guarantee a continuous supply at the moment but we hope to increase the number of cows.”
Paddy’s group is also involved in a conservation grazing programme that is part of a research project being carried out by Geraldine Swanley-Stein at IT Tralee. The project is based in the national park at Arraglen on the northern slopes of Mount Brandon. The study is investigating the effect of cattle grazing on biodiversity and is in phase one this year. “Keeping purple moor grass under control increases biodiversity and cattle dung is more beneficial for invertebrates than sheep droppings. We hope the study will establish the level of grazing most beneficial to wildlife,” says Paddy.
Supersprouts, 72 Douglas St., Cork
Pat Quigley doesn’t believe in hiding his light under a bushel. He called his restaurant Very Healthy Food, and having proclaimed his credentials, set up in Douglas St. in Cork. Pat says his restaurant is Ireland’s only organic vegan café. “There was nowhere in Cork you could get an organic meal or even organic bread,” He says. The poor quality of the national diet and lack of availability of healthy food motivated him to set up the café. “There is a lot of sickness and obesity related to food. We have forgotten what food actually is.”
Pat’s restaurant is open from 11am to 7pm Tuesday to Saturday and serves a range of organic smoothies, falafel, salads and organic bread. “We don’t use sugar or processed foods and stay as close to wholefoods as possible,” he says. “We sell a lot of superfoods – fresh wheatgrass, spirulina, raw cacao, agave, hemp and chia seeds.”
He is very concerned about the food people are putting in their shopping trolleys. “Fast foods are choking people’s arteries not to mention the environment and destroying the local economy. People need to wise up – mental health is closely associated with physical health – you are what you eat.”
- supersprouts.org
- veryhealthyfood.com
- Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Vitaclean Ltd. - Seaweed Extraction
In May 2011, Cork company, Vitaclean Ltd., achieved organic symbol status from IOFGA for seaweed extraction. The seaweed used is from ecologically sustainable harvesting from quality Irish coastal seawaters, shipped to a factory site in Cork and extracted using a very pure solvent-free process to gain maximum benefit from the seaweed plant. Vitaclean takes great pride in its commitment to preserving the marine environment and the contributions it makes to the community.
Vitaclean worked with Fragrances of Ireland and NUIG’s Marine Research Institute for many years on this project - to produce a unique, over 99 % natural, skin care range, recently launched as “Nua Nautanicals”, using their unique organic seaweed extract, for the global beauty market. The organically certified seaweed complex extract has a unique function for skin benefits such as anti-ageing , skin smoothing , intense moisturization , antioxidant , skin elasticity and age defying complex and, used in Fragrances of Ireland’s “ Nua Nautanicals” natural skin care, has been scientifically proven to exhibit these benefits.
Vitaclean says the company is committed to continue working on organic seaweed extraction and other Irish-sourced marine research for the beauty and health markets.
Tómas and Sheila Lally, Partry, Co. Mayo - In Conversion to Organic Farming
Like many small farmers, Tómas and Sheila Lally (pictured below) are looking to find a combination of enterprises to make their 28 acre farm viable, while providing quality food for their family. “I’ve always been a closet organic farmer,” Tómas says. “I grew up on a traditional farm and I always disliked intensive methods and heavy use of fertiliser.” Making sure that their children have access to quality food is another motivator. “When you look at the rubbish that is fed to children you have to be concerned about how food is produced and that alone would get me interested in organic,” he says.
The Lallys have kept pigs for a number of years and they are experimenting with cross breeding to find an animal with reasonable fat content. Tómas has been curing the meat he produces and would consider getting into small scale processing down the line. “I am trying to upskill and I did the curing course at the Crowes in Tipperary. The difficulty is finding a small abattoir that will kill an animal and give you back the blood. As it stands, I have to travel a good distance to have pigs killed.”
They have also erected a small polytunnel for vegetable production and are on a steep learning curve. “We tried too many things but we are learning as we go; it’s a case of trial and error,” Tómas says. “We are happy with a part time income from the farm and we know it will never make a fortune. Our aim with food production is to get as close as possible to the person who consumes it.”
Gillian Westbrook has been appointed to the new position of
General Manager with IOFGA. Coming from a background in the regulatory area...
