Growing crisps and helping to make memories on our East Cork farm

Cork has a rich and proud tradition of the women of farming families finding innovative and delicious ways to diversify, creating food brands with a loyal following.

Among the canon of greats are the female cheesemakers of West Cork - Jeffa Gill of Durrus Cheese, Giana Fergusson of Gubbeen Cheese, and the late Veronica Steele of Milleen’s Cheese. Latterly, women of farming families have opened farm shops, launched mobile milk vending services, and made award-winning ice cream.

Sandra Burns should take her rightful place among the roll call of women who see the opportunity within the raw ingredients of the farm. In her case, the vegetables her husband Joe Burns grows on 36 acres in Killeagh, east Cork, for their award-winning vegetable crisps.

It may say Joe’s Farm Crisps on the packet, but Sandra Burns is at the helm driving the innovative snacking bags of vegetable crisps that are a firm favourite around Cork and beyond. But it is also a partnership of equals: the farm needs the crisps, and the crisps need the farm.

The brown paper bag-like packaging filled with crisped vegetables and potatoes grown, harvested, cooked and packed on the farm, are distinctive. There’s an almost tangible connection between the bag, the crisps within, where and by whose hands they originated. They say to shake the hand that feeds you is to know where your food comes from. Pick up a bag of Joe’s Farm Crisps and it’s as though you are doing just that, such is the connection between farmer and food.

The story of Joe’s Farm Crisps began with Joe’s parents, who sold vegetables bought from local growers at their local mart – long before any farmers’ markets. When Sandra and Joe took that over 18 years ago, Sandra was working in the travel trade and Joe was an agricultural contractor.

For 14 years they continued to sell veg every week at farmers’ markets in Mallow, Mahon and Douglas, while Joe’s mum sold at Midleton.

However, they could see that markets were changing.

“They were becoming more about hot food, and the produce was being forced out in a way,” Sandra recalls.

Then came the winter of 2012.

“Supermarkets had a price war on veg coming up to Christmas. They sold veg for five cent and the weather was atrocious. Every weekend there were storms; I’ll never forget it. You can’t grow and sell a bunch of carrots for five cent and make a profit. Whether you’re the biggest farm or the smallest, it’s just not viable.”

The farm sailed perilously close to the edge, but then Sandra remembered tasting vegetable crisps on a visit to Joe’s sister in Boston earlier that year.

“We had loved them,” says Sandra. “We experimented with vegetable crisps, making them for the kids’ birthdays. One Christmas, I made bags to hand out to our customers at the Mahon market. People wanted to buy them, but we were making them in our kitchen so couldn’t sell them!

“We knew there was something there so we bought a mobile kitchen unit, the idea being if it didn’t work out, we could sell it. We were very cautious because we were trying to diversify, not because we wanted to, but because we had to.”

A few months later, and Joe’s Farm Crisps went into full operation, in March, 2014, but it was slow going.

“I remember putting the kids to bed and going out to the unit at 8pm until midnight and we made just 37 bags of crisps and sold out in an hour. But that’s how we started. Now, if we don’t bag 5,000 by 10am I’m giving out!”

Despite the challenging start, Joe’s Farm Crisps went on to win Gold at the Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards that year for their original beetroot, carrot and parsnip mixed vegetable crisps in October, 2014, and the following March were featured on RTÉ’s Ear To The Ground.

Sales doubled overnight, precipitating a need to seek funding to grow the operation on the farm.

“Winning Gold at Blas was the first day I realised someone believes in us. Other people in the food industry could see what we could see, but the banks couldn’t see the potential in our vegetable crisp business. The idea of doing veg crisps was us thinking outside the box; before us, people thought crisps were just Taytos! We secured funding through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine because we were growing our own vegetables for the crisps,” says Sandra.

With that funding, they were able to purchase a food grade unit for cooking and bagging their crisps. But space was tight and, even up to September last year, every bag of crisps was hand-sealed using GHD hair straighteners!

“There was three of us working in a very small space so we had to think about what we could use that would work and was cheap. GHDs fitted the bill: they were small, cheap, and easy to use. We went through three of them until we got our bagging machine last year!”

The story that shines through with Joe’s Farm Crisps is a family-run farm business where the vegetables are grown, harvested, cooked and bagged on the farm. While Joe is the expert in growing and cooking, Sandra manages sales, accounts and does all the distribution herself. At the weekend, their eldest children, Conor and Megan, help with the bagging.

It really is a family enterprise.

“It’s two businesses working in parallel, and we have full traceability of the potatoes and veg. All we add is Achill Island Sea Salt. I love that because we know where everything comes from.”

Since covid, the farm no longer trades at farmers’ markets, having invested in an on-site shop selling their own farm produce as well as a few items from other producers Sandra loves.

The shop has become a beacon for the local community and there is a mighty buzz on site throughout the year when the farm opens its doors for the hugely popular Sunflower Pick for Marymount and Halloween-themed Pumpkin Pick.

The Sunflower Pick is an event close to Sandra’s heart. This year the event raised €8,000 to support the vital work of Marymount Hospice.

“We don’t hype up the sunflower event as much as the Pumpkin Pick; there’s a real sense of calmness and peace among the flowers, and I think, because we do it for Marymount Hospice, people take the time to reflect on their loved ones. It’s nicer to keep something calm and let the flowers do the talking.”

The Pumpkin Picking, which sells out every year, was originally for school visits only. But, says Sandra, within two weeks the demand was so high they relaunched as a ticketed event open to the public.

“I came from a dairy and tillage farm, and I expected everyone had been to a farm, but I am always amazed at the amount of people who haven’t’,” Sandra says.

“We started pumpkin picking seven years ago to get people to eat more veg and we wanted to target schools only. Schools are still my favourite thing; we do a guided tour that we adapt for the different age groups coming on the farm.

“I think if you start in schools showing kids where their veg comes from, they’ll happily pick the rainbow carrots, take them home, wash, cook and eat them. People always send in messages saying their child never ate veg until they went to our farm. They say, ‘Look at what you’ve done’, but we don’t do anything - all we do is open our farm. The kids do the rest!

“They’re learning and not realising it, and it’s a fun event too. The draw is picking the pumpkin, the rainbow carrots and the spuds, but the important thing for us is that bag of veg going home. Once you start eating veg that comes straight from the ground, you get hooked on the taste. You won’t go back to the supermarket to buy veg again!

“People ask where we stock them, but it’s just from our farm shop. When people taste them, they see the difference.”

But it’s not just vegetable crisps, sunflowers and pumpkins on the farm. From 2025, two new flower attractions will be unveiled – tulips for Easter, and lavender in June.

“We will be starting with half an acre of tulips, and an acre of lavender. It’s a great way to extend the memory-making opportunities for people on the farm in a way that is colourful, beautiful, positive and fun,” says Sandra.

“People often think they can’t come sunflower or pumpkin- picking unless they have kids, but we have groups, individuals and couples come along - you don’t need to have kids to take part. It’s all about making memories!

“Yes, it is a business, but to me it’s all about getting that family photograph or a photograph that captures a moment in time. I make sure the props change every year because I don’t want people to have the same photo at the same prop every year.

“Since my mam passed, I now know that a photo is all you have at the end of the day. They become precious. You’re not just picking a pumpkin, you’re making memories.”

Of course, no visit to the farm is complete without a visit to the farm shop, which is guaranteed to always be stocked with the ever-growing range of Joe’s Farm Crisps.

“We have five different crisps in the range now. Our original is the mixed veg crisps (carrot, parsnip, beetroot). In 2016, we launched our Mixed Potato Medley with purple, pink and red potatoes. Our customers told us they wanted more beetroot in the bags, so we brought out the beetroot only bag.

“Last Christmas we launched a Trio of Beetroot with purple, yellow and candy-striped beetroots, and a plain white potato, which is something Joe really wanted.

“We only add a touch of Achill Island Sea Salt because we really want the flavour of the potatoes and vegetables to do the talking!”

Farming is no easy business – and vegetable farming is even harder, which makes the story of Joe’s Farm Crisps so special.

“At the beginning, people told us our idea for vegetable crisps wouldn’t work, but we ignored them because we knew what we wanted. We are so proud of everything we do, but you must have passion for your product and drive to make it happen. If you have that, you’ll get there!”

See www.joesfarmcrisps.ie