From horse and cart to nationwide: Why SMEs should take the risk of expanding
John Drayne describes how Drayne’s Farm, his company, has grown from being a local supplier to distributing its goods all around the island of Ireland.dairy farm
The owner of Draynes Farm, John Drayne, describes how his company has grown from its modest origins as a local supplier to selling its goods all over the island of Ireland.
Why did you choose to enter the ice cream market in 2015?
We were selling ice cream under a different name at the time, but we had the chance to buy some manufacturing equipment of our own. We felt it would be a perfect opportunity to attempt making the product ourselves under the Draynes Farm Brand, since we already had customers purchasing it.
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From a solid foundation, we used our own milk and cream to truly push the ice cream to its limits. For our vanilla flavor, we even took home two gold stars from the Great Taste Awards in just the first year of production.
The ice cream was excellent, and it was the high-quality item we had anticipated. Even more doors opened as a result of the Great Taste awards, which served as validation for all of our hard work.
What adjustments or modifications to your system were necessary to make room for this kind of production?
We created a self-contained ice cream production area at the back of the room where we had a backup filling machine for our milk production line at the time.
Fortunately, we had direct access to our herd of grass-fed pedigree Holstein cows’ milk and cream thanks to our well-established milk business, which allowed us to manufacture the best dairy ice cream possible with just the best components.
What were your primary worries when you first thought about expanding distribution, and why did you turn to InterTradeIreland for assistance?
We were fortunate to have strong local support from merchants and consumers, but we realized that our product was too amazing to stay in one place. The main issue we had was how to reach consumers in a market we don’t already serve. For example, without an established customer base, it would have been very difficult to make it financially feasible to send a truck down to Dublin.
This made us think about leveraging a distributor to take use of their current clientele. InterTradeIreland stepped in at this point and connected us with Sales Plus.
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How far has your distribution process come since you set it up in 1932?
The Glenavy Road was located in the center of the country when Seamus Drayne, along with his two brothers Aidan and Dermot, founded Draynes Farm in 1932. However, our ambitious ancestors recognized a market potential in the nearby expanding town. With fresh farm milk right out of the churn, they began delivering goods by horse and cart. While we currently use a combination of vans and lorries to serve mostly to commercial clients, our commitment to providing excellent customer service will never change.
churning milk
Drayne observes that fresh farm milk straight from the churn was delivered by horse and cart when Seamus Drayne and his two brothers, Aidan and Dermot, founded Draynes Farm.
About ninety years later, Lisburn is very different. For one thing, it’s closer to the farm, but that’s also helped us get even closer to one of our primary markets. However, not all of Lisburn has undergone alteration.
The buildings and our technology would be unfamiliar to Seamus, Aidan, and Dermot, yet they would still hardly recognize the farm! However, they would acknowledge the enthusiasm for contemporary dairy farming that remains a driving force behind everything we do at Draynes Farm. This is due to the fact that we are still a stand-alone family firm that produces, processes, and distributes goods straight from our 200-acre Lisburn farm.
We believe that thousands of households and companies across Northern Ireland, as well as the Republic of Ireland, continue to receive the best locally sourced milk, cream, and ice cream from the company that Seamus, Aidan, and Dermot founded all those years ago. We think they would be proud of this fact.
What guidance would you offer to other SMEs who want to grow?
Naturally, growing entails risk, and growing entails ongoing expenditure to keep the firm running. But, I think it’s worthwhile when you have a strong sense of enthusiasm for the product and company possibilities. When I see our items on store shelves or restaurant menus, I feel very proud and satisfied.
We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time.