FLAHAVAN'S, one of Ireland's oldest family-owned businesses, recently hosted a roundtable discussion on advancing organic agriculture in Ireland.
The Irish milling company, based in Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford, welcomed Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, to Wednesday's event.
He was accompanied by other key stakeholders with an interest in the organic sector and was joined by representatives from leading industry partners and organic agencies.
Central to the discussions was the challenge of ensuring a reliable supply of high-quality organic oats to meet increasing demand, both from food producers like Flahavan's as well as for use in organic livestock feed.
Flahavan's anticipates producing approximately 10,000 tonnes of organic oat-based products over the next 12 months, the majority of which will be sourced from Irish-certified organic farms.
The company's conventional oats are sourced from local farmers within a 60-mile radius of its Kilmacthomas mill, some of whom have been supplying the mill for many generations.
As a long-time advocate for organic farming, Flahavan's works closely with Teagasc, the Organic Trust and the Irish Organic Association (IOA) to support and grow Ireland's organic oat supply chain.
Flahavan's porridge range is grown, milled and produced in Ireland.
Now in its seventh generation, it exports more than two-thirds of its organic output to international markets, including Britain.
It is exported to more than 20 countries worldwide and more than 3million servings of Flahavan's are consumed each week.
See More: Flahavan's, Martin Heydon
