A Co. Cork couple from dairy and beef farming backgrounds have found goats to be the ideal fit for their small farm enterprise – Dottie and Dora – which started with cheese, and then pivoted to skincare products.
Siobhán Ring and Alan Twomey are both agricultural scientists with PhDs, and started making goats’ cheese on Twomey’s home farm.
“We had a great first year, winning a prestigious silver Cáis award for our cheese and being finalists in the IRD Duhallow Business Awards for best food business.
“Working with goats was a deliberate choice, even though our backgrounds are in dairy and beef farming,” said Twomey.
“Goats are fascinating animals: curious, friendly, and well suited to smaller operations. They are physically smaller than cattle, which means they require less land and are more sustainable for our small farm. This makes them an ideal fit for our land base,” he added.
“We also enjoy the challenge of working in a sector different from our day-to-day professional roles in the dairy and beef sector. It keeps us engaged and allows us to apply our knowledge in a new and practical way.
“Starting Dottie and Dora was an exciting opportunity to work with goats and explore how we could turn that passion for agriculture into a thriving enterprise,” he continued.
“When we started Dottie and Dora, our focus was on producing goat milk, cheese, and soap. The soap started as a small hobby project, mainly because locals had heard about the benefits of goat milk in skincare and requested it.
“We thought: ‘Why not give it a go?’ At first, cheese and milk production dominated our time, as they were in high demand.
However, as the business grew, they realised they were stretched too thin: “Balancing both our full-time professional roles and the demands of a young business left little time for anything else,” Ring said.
“Our cheese and milk were selling incredibly well, but we understood that scaling up would require significant investment in time and resource, something we couldn’t commit to while maintaining our other responsibilities.”
Meanwhile, they continued making goat milk soap using natural, farm-based ingredients like their own goat milk, honey, and beeswax. “Over time, we noticed how well the soap was performing, especially for people with sensitive skin,” Twomey recalled.
“Siobhán, who has struggled with severe eczema all her life, had tried countless products that promised relief but nothing seemed to work.
“To her surprise, she found that the goat milk soap was gentle enough for her skin, even though she’s allergic to both cow and goat milk when consumed. This discovery was a turning point for us,” Twomey added.
The feedback from customers who tried the soap mirrored Siobhán’s experience, according to Twomey:
“People with dry, sensitive, or eczema-prone skin loved it, and that reaffirmed our belief in its potential. What sets our soap apart, is the combination of natural, nutrient-rich ingredients like goat milk which is known for its moisturising properties, and honey, which add soothing and antibacterial benefits.”
The couple built a small unit on Twomey’s family farm when they started:
“We kept the investment deliberately modest, buying second-hand, and upcycling items where possible. We wanted to test the waters first, see how things developed before committing to something larger and then potentially seeking aid from grants,” said Ring.
The couple funded the set-up themselves, and did the majority of the work on their own or with the help of family and friends to help keep costs minimal.
“At the moment, we have 12 goats, which is an ideal number for producing goat milk soap,” Ring said.
“That would involve a significant scale-up in both infrastructure and resources. One of the benefits of focusing more on soap production is that it allows us to keep things small, manageable, and personal, while still creating a high quality product.
“This way, we can operate sustainably and maintain that close connection with our goats, which is something we really value,” he said.
“In autumn, we also harvest honey, which we use in our soaps, while oils and butters are sourced as needed. The use of frozen milk gives us flexibility in our production schedule,” Ring outlined.
Twomey said that they would “love to expand our range of products, continuing to create natural, handcrafted items that stand out for their quality.
“Our goal is to keep offering high quality skincare while staying true to our values of sustainability, craftsmanship, and animal welfare.”
They also keep alpacas and bees on their farm, which Twomey said are “incredibly valuable to us. We use their honey in our soaps for its natural antibacterial properties, and the beeswax is incorporated into our lip balms. We also sell the honey directly to our customers”.
For anyone considering starting a farm-based business, Twomey’s advice is to just go for it:
“We always had a desire to try something new in farming, and working with goats was a dream for us. The journey has been both challenging and exhilarating, and while it can be daunting to develop a business from scratch, the rewards are immense.
“One key piece of advice is that if you don’t take the leap, you’ll never know what could have been. We kept telling ourselves that the timing wasn’t right and that we should wait.
“But eventually, Siobhán reached a point where she decided to stop waiting and took action by purchasing milking kid goats as soon as she got her herd number. That decision set everything in motion and helped us get started.”
“Embrace the excitement and challenges, and don’t be afraid to take the first step. The experience will be incredibly rewarding, and you’ll learn and grow along the way,” he advised