Little did Marc Andrews realise when the company he runs began importing Fairtrade produce eight years ago it would be so successful.
Andrews, managing director of Smyths Food Group, one of Ireland's largest and longest established independent fresh produce companies, started bringing in Fairtrade bananas at the behest of Lidl in 2007. It now accounts for more than a third of the group's business.
“About 12 years ago I got a call from a man who worked for a German supermarket I’d never heard of that was just setting up in Ireland.
“We began supplying bananas to them and, when they wanted to add another line, we won the business to supply organic and Fairtrade ones. Over the last four years, that business has grown by about 400 per cent,” he said.
Supplying bananas to Lidl is just one part of the business. The group also operates a general fruit and veg division that imports and distributes a wide range of produce to the wholesale, retail and catering industries. More recently, it has begun establishing a chain of retail stores under the Fresh Market brand.
“We’re a medium-sized Irish family business and we’re currently turning over about €15 million a year,” said Andrews.
Reputation
The group began life in 1924 when Irishmen
Nicholas Smyth
and Hugh McNulty established a small business in Liverpool. On returning to Ireland a decade later, their reputation and experience were put to good use when they set up in Dublin Corporation’s wholesale fruit market, where they still have a presence.
Throughout the 60s and up to the late 90s, the business expanded considerably under the stewardship of Nicholas' son, Colum Smyth. Since 1997, the company has been run by a third generation of Smyths, Colum's daughter Clodagh Smyth and her husband, Andrews.
Under their watch, the group, which employs 60 people, has grown further. It acquired a large premises in Blanchardstown in 2002 to cope with increased banana volumes. In 2011, the facility was expanded to fit it with state-of-the-art ripening chambers to give it a maximum production capacity of about 30,000 boxes of bananas a week.
As Andrews is the first to admit, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. He joined the group 17 years ago after stints working for IBM and internet company Indigo.
“The market has changed quite a bit over the years with supermarkets moving towards central distribution. SuperValu were the first to go down this route. When they did, they only selected a few suppliers and we weren’t one of them.
“Many wholesalers got cut out of the picture around that time and struggled. We retained the wholesale business, but our customer profile has changed considerably and we’re now dealing mostly with smaller customers, restaurants, independent retailers and some other wholesalers,” he said.
“It is a tough business to be in because it is high turnover, low margin. It is very transparent so you can’t pull the wool over people’s eyes on prices,” Andrews said.
Discount retailer
Teaming up with Lidl was an obvious boost for the group, which has grown in tandem with the discount retailer.
“When we first started supplying Fairtrade bananas, they weren’t heavily promoted in Ireland. When Lidl decided to introduce the line, they made Fairtrade more popular because they didn’t banish it to the corner, but displayed it next to other fruit and veg and marketed it at a reasonable price so people didn’t mind paying the bit extra for it,” said Andrews.
Smyths has also benefited from recent interest in locally-grown produce.
“When the economy got into trouble, people turned a bit more patriotic and became more interested in locally grown fruit and veg.
“This is particularly true in the restaurant trade. This led us to improve our profile of Irish products because we were primarily an importer at that point and it was a gap in our portfolio. Now we have a considerable offering from here, including potatoes and lettuces,” he said.
Five years ago, the company branched out into retail when it opened up a number of Fresh Market speciality stores. It now operates five stores on Dublin’s northside.
“Retail is a hard game and it’s been a learning curve for us. We’re trying to appeal to people who want things that they wouldn’t necessarily find in supermarkets so as well as quality fruit and veg there is also pasta, oils, meats and so on in our stores,” said Andrews.
“We are doing well with the stores, but it has been difficult. The biggest lesson I’ve learnt from doing this is to have a get-out clause if things aren’t working. We tried at two locations that didn’t really take off and after giving it some time pulled out. Otherwise, we’re happy with the progress we’ve made and are keeping an eye out for other properties.”
