Keelings Celebrates 90 Years of Growing
Keelings, Ireland’s largest supplier and producer of fresh fruit, is celebrating 90 years of growing at its North Dublin farm. The family business has celebrated the milestone in conjunction with the official opening of the new Keelings Farm Shop.
Stretching back to the 1920s, the Keelings family story is full of heritage. When starting out, the family worked the farm with rhubarb as their mainstay crop. A lot has changed for the Dublin based company at quite a rapid pace over the years. As the farm grew in the 1930s, they began growing fruits and salads, supplying them to the local Dublin markets.
Today, Keelings is still run by the same family, which is now operated by the third generation and showing great success. From planting their very first strawberries in 1937, Keelings have gone on to grow a wide range of berries, fruit and vegetables, supplying their produce to shops and supermarkets nationwide.
Through investing in state-of-the-art greenhouses, Keelings has completely revolutionised its growing process, with the new technology allowing them to extend the Irish growing season through to December.
The early arrival of Irish strawberries in March this year came at the same time as the company reported expected sales of an incredible 10 million strawberry punnets over the Irish season. Keelings have spent years testing and trialling various growing systems and have between 15 and 30 new varieties in the Research and Development area at any one time.
The new Keelings Farm shop has already proved a huge hit with customers, giving locals the chance to buy freshly picked fruit and veg straight from the farm they were grown on. The shop stocks a huge variety of berries as well as delicious balsamics, Keelings flowers and a range of plants so that customers can grow their favourite berries at home. The shop perfectly portrays everything the Keelings brand stands for, by stocking the freshest produce straight from Keelings’ own doorstep.
CAPTION:
Caroline and David Keeling, with their father Joe (centre) about to cut the cake to celebrate Keelings 90 years of growing.
