Just as Riverdance drowned out the ceilidh band among the lifestyle sophisticates in internationalised Ireland so the batched loaf has increasingly lost ground to the crusty French baguette and croissant, the Russian pumpernickel, Italian panettone, Mexican tortilla and other trendy continental variants on the basic staff of life. Travel, while broadening the mind, seemingly also broadens the palate. A growing appreciation of alternative lifestyles, including foodstuffs, has generated a market for businesses to provide such delicacies as Greek olives, Italian pastas and French bread on our own doorstep. Cue Dr Pat Loughrey and Ronan McNamee, entrepreneurs behind Dublin bakery firm Cuisine de France, a rather pretentious company name, but one which has cleverly ridden the winds of aspirational change swirling around the new breed of Irish food consumer.
Most successful business concepts are often the most simple. So it was for Loughrey and McNamee who spotted a growing niche market for authentic French bread, with all its foodie lifestyle connotations, and with technological and marketing innovation set out to fill the gap. Their entrepreneurial yeast rose splendidly this week when the company, in which both individuals and their respective families are main shareholders, was acquired by agri-food group IAWS in a deal worth £51 million. Both join the ranks of Ireland's emergent breed of multi-millionaires, growing rich on evolving a small business into a big business. They receive around £20 million each from an initial £40 million payment from the new owners, the remaining £11 million coming on completion of profit targets. Last year Cuisine de France made pre-tax profits of around £3.7 million with £5 million projected this year.
Industry sources say that Cuisine de France has skilfully created its own market, its products now available in most supermarkets, small grocery store sand convenience shops throughout the country. Delivery in frozen form to supermarkets for final in-store cooking enables minimum wastage while allowing that alluring smell of freshly-baked bread to waft around the premises, a surefire psychological stimulus for more than just sales of bread.
The firm, with about 1,800 outlets in Ireland, is also strong in northern England and Scotland and apart from its classic French bread has diversified into specialist Turkish and Italian bread products as well as confectionery.
For Loughrey and McNamee, with around £20 plus million apiece for their staff of life, the yeast of personal initiative rose this week into a wad of mightily profitable dough. Expect more from the dynamic duo in pastures new.
