The story of local producers struggling to sell against the back drop of large retailers continues, as local producer and goat farmer, Tim McGlynn told Agriland that there should be more done to create a marketing campaign to explain the benefits of purchasing local.
McGlynn milks about 60 goats and makes his own hand-crafted soft creamy cheese on his farm based near Tallaght, Co. Dublin.
His products are supported through local enterprises; restaurants; and businesses in the area, such as one restaurant, The Merry Ploughboy, who has supported the farm for the last 20 years.
McGlynn said that while he is “well integrated” in the local area that “most farmers are not connected with their consumer”.
McGlynn explained that when consumers buy from a small shop or producer, that probably 90% of the price goes back into the local economy.
In a large supermarket, he said it can be difficult to tell how much money the local economy receives.
He said that while most restaurants are “price sensitive”, there is still goats cheese available at a much lower price in supermarkets.
“We have to rely on restaurants being interested in serving local produce and customers being interested in eating local produce,” McGlynn said.
He added that during the Covid-19 pandemic more people were interested in sourcing locally.
Now that travel restrictions have ended and consumers face further financial difficulties, there has been “less interest”, according to McGlynn.
He added that with the current cost of living crisis coming into play during consumer’s decision making process, that it can be “difficult” for the consumer to understand the farmer and vice versa.
“I think if you’re a small scale farmer like we are, you have to be able to sell direct in order to get the maximum margin.
“Otherwise you’re producing a commodity at commodity prices and that doesn’t work on a small scale farm,” McGlynn said.