A thriving farm shop in an old cow-shed in County Cork

A CONVERTÉD calf-shed might not be the most obvious place to enjoy a good coffee and a slice of delicious carrot cake, yet in the stunning location of Rostellan Farm, a hop and a skip from the sea, nothing tastes nicer.

On my visit, the sun has made an appearance and so have the friendly pygmy goats, Meteor and Comet, who are loving the attention from the younger visitors frolicking outside while mum and dad are enjoying lunch.

“When the calves arrive and multiply, the number of available tables decreases and the crowds are turfed out during January and May!” says Joe Morrissey, a third-generation dairy farmer who took over the business in 1995 from his parents, Tom and Breda.

The Farm Shop, opened almost a year ago, is Olivia Morrissey’s baby.

“It is situated where the calves were born!” she says. “The milking parlour is behind the shop.”

So the shelves of mouth-watering cakes, pastries, breads, scones, salads, and sandwiches opposite the home-made preserves, condiments, granola, are the former labour ward for the Holstein-Friesian herd?

“That’s right,” says Olivia, who thought outside the box when she looked at the potential of the home-farm to diversify and make the best of it for the family.

“Joe is very supportive,” adds Olivia, who owned a bridal shop in Midleton and also worked for CCM properties. Having spent 12 years at home, looking after the couple’s four children, Olivia decided to look no further than home to get back into the work-force, using the obvious option of their own milk produce.

Now the couple are selling more than 1,000 litres of milk every week through a vending machine in their farm shop in Rostella, East Cork.

Apart from small local food producers that supply Rostellan Farm Shop, Olivia’s brother, Pa Twomey, of Farm Fresh Foods, Carrigtwohill, supplies her with coleslaw and potato salad. And her dad, John, provided her with good advice when she went into business.

“Dad said January to March will be quieter. Don’t panic. It’ll get busy again,” recalls Olivia, who also did the book-work for Rostellan farm. “Dad was my mentor.”

Olivia has an entrepreneurial background. Milk was an obvious solution to diversify, selling their own from a vending machine.

“It was important to look to the future,” she says. “I was thinking of doing something on the farm, like making butter, yogurt or ice-cream, selling it from a hut at the bottom of the garden. 

I figured, if I was going to be manning that, why not go a step further and open a shop selling other produce? And the idea of a milk-vending machine appealed to us.

The idea of a community hub appealed to the Morrisseys too. “Having a human connection is important for people,” says Olivia, who has a word for everyone; the grandad with his grandchildren, the two ladies with their dogs, the young family with the double buggy; the children queueing up for the chocolate-flavoured milk. It is clear the farm is a sociable spot for chatting, browsing, or just for stopping and staring, taking in the views of the rich green fields bounding the sea.

What is special about the milk yield from the 120 head of cattle?

“We pasteurise our own milk that is non-homogenised,” explains Olivia. “It is creamier, and has a higher protein content. It is very nutritious, and you feel fuller for longer. Our milk doesn’t compare to what you buy in the supermarkets.”

The vending machine, located at the front of the shop, is a clever piece of high-tech.

“We ordered the milk vending machine and bottle dispensing machine and pasteuriser from Unison Engineering in Limerick. Our glass milk bottles from Hall print Solutions in Dublin.” says Olivia.

Customers can buy a branded, re-usable glass bottle dispensing machine for €3.50, or use their own container, paying €1.50 a litre for the milk.

“We launched our flavoured milk range which includes chocolate, banana, strawberry and vanilla,” adds Olivia. They cost €4 a litre.

“The kids love it, and it is very healthy. It is like a milkshake without the ice-cream.”

Getting the business up and running on-site didn’t magically happen overnight. Construction work began on the farm in 2020, after Olivia had gathered knowledge and done her research to open Rostellan Farm Shop and set up the milk vending machine.

“Covid was a handy time to do all that,” says Olivia.

“We gutted the inside of the calving shed, which is 200 years old. It is a perfect indoor area for people to have their coffee or eat their food. Last May, we decided to clear out the shed and put in seating.”

The former calf-shed is serving its owners well.

“Years ago, Joe mentioned a shop,” recalls Olivia.

The labour ward for the cows was ideal.

“He said, we’ll use that. I’ll give you the building.”

The calf-shed was to serve another profitable purpose.

Even when we don’t have the seating in the shed, people still like to wander in and see the calves. People like to see a working farm.

Olivia was industrious.

“I was accepted into the ACORNS programme, and I completed various business development courses with the Local Enterprise Office and with Crawford College of Art and Design. There are a lot of rules and regulations involved and we applied for planning to Cork County Council to convert and extend the calving shed into a farm shop, pasteurising room and bottling facility, as well as a customer car-park. The council were favourable to the idea,” says Olivia.

“And we are registered with the Department of Agriculture. For our shop, we are registered with the Environmental Health Office through the HSE.”

There is another important factor.

“And we are wheelchair friendly,” says Olivia.

The Morrisseys were good to go.

“We opened during the Feast Festival that is held in Midleton.”

Neighbours were excited and encouraging about the project.

“Kevin Aherne, of Sage, lives across the away from us and he encouraged us to open for the festival,” says Olivia. “We were selling produce from local and regional producers, and we were well stocked up.”

Was that a good call?

Olivia laughs.

“We thought a few locals might stroll up to us out of curiosity. But we were inundated by hundreds of people. The first week was absolute insanity! We thought we’d open and close again to get ready for the milk vending machine to be up and running, but due to the amazing response and the huge demand for what we were offering, we stayed open. The first few weeks were a whirlwind - we were totally overwhelmed.”

Olivia must have baked dozens of scones?

“That’s for sure! And I realised the business is a huge commitment. You have to be there 24/7. Since we opened last September, we’ve only been away once, hopefully we’ll get a little break for our wedding anniversary which is coming up.”

Rostellan Farm has a tradition of welcoming people onto its land.

“We do farm tours for school classes at the end of term and for farmers from abroad who like to see how we do things,” says Olivia.

“We got backing from SECAD in July, which is a big deal.”

Olivia was backed by family.

“My sister-in -law rowed in and so did the kids. Anne Moynihan is our manager, ably assisted by Adelina. We have lots of youngsters employed for the summer season.”

Everyone is content down on the farm, which is an asset to the rural community and rural economy.

Olivia must be delighted with ‘her baby?’

“Yes, it is my baby,” says Olivia, laughing. “But it is very much a partnership too.”

Rostellan Farm Shop, Knockanemorney, Rostellan, Co. Cork.