Huge thanks to the family at Bloom
I am finally finding time to reflect on 5 fantastic days at Bloom last week and the long weekend. Every junior and senior shepherd pulled out all the stops, and I am so grateful to them. A particular mention has to go to my 88-year-old father, who visited the stand and my babiest of shepherds at home studying for the Leaving Cert while we were having fun.
Heroes like Sophie Morris and Donal Skehan
Throughout the five days, we met so many heroes like Sophie Morris who is doing so much on social media to educate about ultra-processed foods and to help small Irish food producers. I ended up dancing on stage with TV chef Donal Skehan (not part of the plan, but you have to go with the flow). he is such a great chef and entertainer. Two of the shepherds were star-struck to meet Taoiseach Michael Martin, and the photo of them is hilarious.
Good Media Coverage for Sheep's Milk
It was also a good media weekend. Michael got a shout-out from Philip Boucher-Hayes on RTE’s Countrywide I got to meet Anton Savage in the Newstalk offices, and he gave us loads of time to talk about the benefits of sheep's milk.
Our Friends The Food Producers
At these events, one of the best parts is meeting with all the other food producers you have got to know over the years, lots of whom I count now as good friends.
Sheep Milk Business Was Done
The most important part of Bloom is the trade breakfast held by Bord Bia early on the Friday morning, before it opens to the public. Buyers from all the major supermarkets and food service businesses are invited to attend. I hope we did some very good business there this year…time will tell. Equally important is meeting current and future consumers. Thousands of people sampled our yoghurts and cheeses so again hopefully this will convert to new business. So much happened over such a short period of time I think the photos tell a better story than I ever could, you can see a sample of them here.
