UNDER THE RADAR:IN THE past he has worked with a number of Ireland's leading and award-winning chefs, including Richard Corrigan, Conrad Gallagher and Kevin Thornton, but Edward Spelman now plans to provide shoppers and commuters with a taste of cordon bleu cooking through his company Dunhill Cuisine in Waterford.
The company, which manufactures chilled ready meals for the catering and retail sectors, recently announced a major deal with Musgrave to supply its network of SuperValu and Centra stores. Potential sales under the two agreements are understood to be worth in the region of €6 million over a two-year period and could lead to Dunhill Cuisine more than doubling its turnover in that period.
Dunhill Cuisine already supplies Cork and Shannon airports with a range of foods - including soups, mashed potatoes, gravy and ready-made meals. It also recently started to supply Dublin airport.
"We give them consistency at all times, in bulk and to their specification. They would order today and we would deliver fresh tomorrow morning," says Spelman.
"That's what's driving the business - freshness, quality and high standards."
Quality and high standards are ingrained in Spelman's psyche. He trained as a chef in what is now Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), won best newcoming chef in Ireland in 1999 and represented Ireland in the world Skills Olympics in Montreal, where he came sixth.
Later, he worked with Conrad Gallagher for a year when Gallagher won his Michelin star. He then worked with Richard Corrigan in the English Garden restaurant in London. But the stresses of such a busy lifestyle were taking their toll on the Galway native, something he recognised when he returned home from London.
"I could have worked 100 hours a week, if not more, seven days a week," he says. "I was only 23 and I was burnt out really. I turned my back on cheffing and gave it up totally."
He did a degree in business management and worked for a while as a product development manager for a food company in Kildare before setting up on his own as a consultant working with food companies to develop new products.
That's where he came across Dunhill Cuisine, a fledgling food company based in an ecopark in Co Waterford. Spelman worked with Dunhill Cuisine to launch a product for a multiple but it didn't work out. At the time, the company was having financial difficulties and was quite literally going nowhere.
"The product didn't work out and I went down to Dunhill to see what had happened," he says. "I haven't moved from Dunhill since and I've been there for three years."
Spelman took over as managing director and began working with Musgrave to develop products for its chain of SuperValu and Centra stores.
"The key was to turn it around and get the customers working with us to develop products," explains Spelman. "Dunhill wanted to work with people who loved food and wanted to create a good quality product. Our business has only grown on the back of people who want to create good quality products."
That work culminated in the recent deal with the retailer. The company, which was set up in 2004, has increased turnover over the past three years from €600,000 to an expected €4 million this year.
The Co Waterford-based company will add 10 staff to its existing 30-strong workforce to cater for the increase in production that will be required to service the contacts with SuperValu and Centra.
ON THE RECORD
Name:Edward Spelman
Age:31
From:Loughrea, Co Galway, now lives in Waterford.
Inspired by:"Michael O'Leary, Donald Trump - people who have been successful in changing things in business."
Most likes to:watch GAA, particularly Galway hurling.
Most recent book: Michael O'Leary - A Life in Full Flightby Alan Ruddock
