Goat-perfect: why this Cork couple went down a different dairy route
When Victor and Breda O’Sullivan bought a farm, they were determined to plough their own furrow. They started milking goats, then saw a gap in the market for mild goat’s cheese – and now they are supplying supermarkets across the country as well as some of Ireland’s top restaurants
Having both grown up on traditional dairy farms, Victor O’Sullivan and his wife Breda have put a unique spin on their own dairy farm.
The 35-acre holding in Charleville, Co Cork is home to a multi-award-winning cheese business, after the couple introduced some unlikely milkers to the farm in 2003.
“One of my sons was sitting on my knee at the auction when we bought the farm,” says Victor. “He looked up at me and asked, ‘Daddy, what are you going to do with it?’, and I honestly didn’t know.”
Victor and Breda did know that they wanted to use the land for something a little different from the norm, so they researched various options.
“We looked into everything from daffodil growing to snail farming, but nothing really caught our attention,” says Victor.
“We had always kept a few goats at home when I was growing up, to hand-milk, and then when Breda and I got married, we kept a few ourselves. So, having both come from dairy backgrounds, we decided we’d get into goat milking.”
The couple began to develop their new green site by erecting sheds and installing a 42-unit, rapid-exit milking parlour.
“We got the stalls and gates from Holland and the milking parlour itself from New Zealand. We had been over in New Zealand and had seen this type of parlour in use,” says Victor. “The goat milk industry is huge there in comparison to here.”
From day one, it was a learning process for all involved.
“Even the man who put in the parlour for us had never installed one before,” says Victor. “We were all learning together. We knew there was going to be a degree of trial and error involved.”
Victor and Breda started milking two years after buying their farm, supplying to a processor.
“We did that for two years and then decided we wanted to try something a bit different. We knew from doing market research that there was a gap in the market for a mild goat’s cheese, so we started looking into producing it,” says Victor.
Bluebell Falls owner Breda O'Sullivan. in the goats cheese packaging area. Photograph Liam Burke/Press 22
The couple got in touch with Eddie O’Neil from Teagasc, Moorepark in Co Cork, and it all took off from there.
“Eddie came to our farm and showed us how to make goat’s cheese, in our kitchen. He was extremely helpful from day one and he advised us on the type of equipment we would need to start producing cheese commercially from the farm,” says Victor.
The O’Sullivans proceeded to equip part of a new shed to accommodate their new business, and began the cheese-making process. They then sourced their design, packaging and labelling, all through Irish companies, and were ready to retail and supply.
“Next thing on our agenda was to market the business and we approached this in pyramid style,” says Victor. “We were completely new to marketing, but we thought that the best thing to do was to approach the top chefs in the top restaurants in the hope that word of our new product would pass down to the smaller restaurants and chefs. And it worked.”
Bluebell Falls cheese quickly garnered the attention of some of the country’s most famous chefs, and then became a menu favourite for various other Irish restaurants and hotels.
The O’Sullivans also began attending an array of festivals and markets to raise product awareness, and before long, they were supplying both the retail and supply sectors.
“We had a two-way strategy whereby we wanted to attract the chefs’ attention and also the public’s so that there was desire for our product on both sides,” says Victor.
Just some of their 200 goats. Photograph Liam Burke/Press 22
The goats are milked twice daily. The milk is pumped from the parlour, through a piped, nine-inch wall before it is pasteurised in small amounts.
The cultures are added and it is left overnight. The next morning, it is drained and sliced before it’s packaged and ready to go.
“Our products are on the shop shelves one week from the goats being milked,” says Victor.
The O’Sullivans favour their 200 goats over cows for a few reasons.
“Firstly, they’re very light on the ground. We run them like cows, so they get new grass daily, without damaging the ground. Our 35 acres is divided up into 12 paddocks which we rotate all the time,” says Victor.
“Goats are also opportunistic foragers who clean ditches and eat what they need, when they need it — they’re not like other livestock.”
He debunks the common misconception that goats eat everything, including your washing!
“They don’t. Goats are immensely intelligent, and they know what nutrients they need, and they know how to get them,” he says.
“Goats will never suit a good cattle farmer who likes to keep the grass down because they won’t eat a full paddock of grass — they tend to go for the ditches and unlikely places.
“They eat unlikely plants like nettles, and they do it in a clever way. In the spring and summer, they will nibble the bud of the nettles where the seed is produced. They won’t touch the rest of the plant.
“Then, in autumn, they will come back to that same plant and they will take the stalk and skin it between their teeth, taking off all the leaves and the outer skin of the nettle, while leaving the stalk.
“They do this because they know how to get the most out of what nature provides seasonally.”
Victor says that although he has provided ample shed space for his goats, they prefer being outdoors to roam free.
“They come in and out as they please and prefer to do their own thing,” he says. “On the continent, most goats are milked in an indoor system, but I find that letting the goats roam free and forage results in our cheese having a unique, milder taste.
“Keeping goats on a single diet reduces the level of vitamins and minerals present in their milk.”
Bluebell Falls cheese has a few exciting weeks ahead as it is set to go nationwide with Aldi from tomorrow, and it is almost nationwide with Tesco too.
“The pandemic changed business for us last year,” says Victor. “The cheese was being returned to us because of the closure of the hospitality industry, so we really began to focus on direct retail to the shops then, and have recently set up our own website.”
‘I think it takes a couple of years to get any farm or business off the ground’
What level of start-up costs did you incur?
It was a substantial cost, more than I had anticipated.
How long did it take to get your business off the ground?
From when we bought the farm to when we sold our first milk it was two years. I think it takes a couple of years to get any farm or business off the ground.
Did you find any supports bodies/agencies helpful when starting up?
Teagasc and Eddie O’Neil have been fantastic from the get-go.
Bord Bia are also great —they gave us great confidence for starting up and they are always there if we need them. The Local Enterprise Office has been and continues to be a great, ongoing support for us.
Was there any grant aid available when you started up?
There was grant aid available, but we didn’t qualify for it at that time. There are various types of grants available to agriculturally-based businesses in Ireland.
Was insurance required?
Yes, we have farm insurance, product insurance and public liability insurance. It’s not difficult to get, but it is expensive.
Did you need a particular licence to start your business?
Yes, we had to do all our HACCP training with the Health Service Executive and had to become certified cheese makers before starting the business.
We also needed to be approved by the Department of Agriculture. There’s a stamp on all our products which shows we are approved.
Everyone involved in the business must be trained and certified in food handling.
What has been your biggest challenge to date?
I think the sales and marketing. We essentially have three different avenues to the business: the farm, the cheese-making and the selling of the cheese.
Marketing was all new to us and a complete learning process.
