Established since 1960, Clarke’s Fresh Fruit is synonymous with excellence in fruit growing. Grocery & Retail Ireland spoke with one half of the company’s directorship in Mary Clarke to learn more about the successful business which her and husband Pat have nurtured and watched grow over the past six decades.
When Meath man Pat Clarke set-up his fruit growing business back 64 years ago, he did so with the intention of one day owning and running a company that would be renowned for the quality of its produce.
Today, Clarke’s Fresh Fruit stands as a business with 180 employees which works tirelessly to grow the most wholesome and flavoursome Irish fresh fruit sustainably.
Pat and his experienced team produce 80 acres of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries from May to November at the company’s farm in Clintstown, Stamullen, Co Meath.
Grocery & Retail Ireland touched base with Mary Clarke recently to hear all about Clarke’s Fresh Fruit – from its origins to the state of business today.
“The business grew from small beginnings. In the early 60s in this area, nearly every household had a small fruit garden to supplement the income,” she outlined.
“So, Pat grew up surrounded by strawberries and, at the age of 12, he was picking fruit for the neighbours. When he was 14, a local lady gave him a present of plants and he had enough for 10 drills. As he says himself, 30 feet long at the time and he made very good money on them and then he became interested, and it was what motivated him in the very early stages.
“He progressed on to an acre in 1964 and there were 5,000 plants on that one acre that year – all in the ground using traditional methods for planting and picking. I suppose, what’s significant today is that the same acre is called ‘Plot 1’ now and takes 30,000 plants.”
She continued: “Today, we have 80 acres and specialise mostly in strawberries. Fresh Irish quality strawberries is what we’re about and then the other 20% would be raspberries and blackberries.
“Everything today is grown in scientifically designed ’cosy’ tunnels, and the growing methods today are very modern with mechanised systems, computer-controlled fertigation and irrigation and everything is a tabletop system. So, the employees are standing when they’re picking or planting the fruit.”
While husband-and-wife Pat and Mary have been running the operation together as Co-Directors for what seems a lifetime now, this year has seen the next generation of Clarkes coming into the business.
Their son Alan, who is a qualified Mechanical Engineer, has changed careers to join the team in Clinstown on a full-time basis and is set to bring a lot of valuable experience to his family’s company.
Alan has come in during a time when business is in a fantastic place for Clarke’s Fresh Fruit and the plan, obviously, is to try and keep things that way as it nears closer towards the 65-year mark.
“Business is very good. We invest heavily in our staff here and Pat always has researched globally from a young age. He is very passionate about what he does,” said Mary.
“The staff are highly valued and that has paid off because we have people that come from Romania for many years and they’re highly experienced now.
“We have staff from Poland and, this year, we had some people from China and Ukraine.. Our core staff are from the surrounding area..”
As Mary herself puts it, Clarke’s Fresh Fruit supplies its produce to “the multiples” across the country, with Dunne’s Stores being one of those.
The company has been with Dunne’s Stores for over 40 years now and the Clarkes were honoured last year to see its King Berries being chosen for Dunne’s ‘Simply Better’ range.
So, all of that considered, the burning question is what has been the secret behind the continued success of Clarke’s Fresh Fruit after all these years?
How has a small start-up grown and developed into a business that is renowned for its excellence in fruit growing, currently employing 180 staff and winning multiple awards along the way.
For Mary, so much of it comes down to the original objectives that Pat set out in 1960 and continues to see them through to this day.
“It’s attention to detail and dedication really. Our goal is to grow the most wholesome and flavoursome fresh Irish fruit sustainably – that’s really what we’re about,” she said.
“We are members of the Bord Bia Origin Green initiative and we have the Bord Bia Quality Assured badge of honour. They don’t come easy because there are strict audits and high standards to adhere to.
“On a daily basis, we’re all the time striving for excellence and so are our team, and we have the experience now in the team built up over the years.”
Along the way, Clarke’s Fresh Fruit has always endeavoured to support all local fundraising events, schools and sports clubs, while each year also sees us choosing a charity to donate to. This year the support is going to help the people of Ukraine..
Looking at the coming months for the company, Mary says they’ll be as eager as ever in Clinstown to maintain the high standards which sees them delivering the best produce day in, day out.
“The hopes for the business would be to maintain the quality and build on continuous progress.
“We want to keep up with modern initiative as well. Every season brings new challenges and we want to just drive on and maintain what we have and build on it.
“The attention to detail, the monitoring and the training of staff are the factors that are key to us, along with loyalty to the suppliers and customers,” she concluded.
Fantastic to hear.
Clarke’s Fresh Fruit
Clinstown,
Stamullen,
Co Meath (K32 XA37)
Tel: +353 1 841 6613 / +353 1 841 3262
Email: [email protected]
Web: clarkesfreshfruit.ie
First published in Grocery & Retail Ireland magazine Vol 3 No 3, Winter 2024
Clarke’s Fresh Fruit, featured
