While many importers receive their fruit already ripened, Irish importer Donnelly Fresh Food does this on site in Dublin. Fruit such as avocados, mangoes, kiwifruit and stone fruit are ripened in the company’s ripening rooms.
“In the past couple of years we have doubled our capacity to ripen fruit on site,” said Paul Hussey, Senior Trading manager at Donelly Fresh. “We supply two major retailers and find that ripening on site gives us more control, if fruit is ripened in say Holland, then pressure can change during transit to Ireland.”
“About 80% of what we sell is ready to eat and it is all the Hass variety, we offer various pack sizes and formats. Demand in Ireland is good, the avocado is becoming a staple. 8-10 years ago we saw a massive growth in sales, that has levelled out now and it is a fruit which is bought by all generations.”
Donnelly Fresh has been undergoing some rebranding, bringing all the different parts of the company together under one brand. The green and orange colour scheme has been replaced a bold purple. “The company is evolving; this is the first rebrand in around 16 years. We are also doing workshops for our employees to involve everyone in defining our values.”
For more information:
Paul Hussey
Donnelly Fresh
Tel: +353 1 8908100
Email: paul.hussey@donnelly.ie
www.donnelly.ie