Our Story
So Far!
Folláin is founded in 1983
Mairin and Peadar O’Lionaird have always shared a love for sweet things. When Mairin met Eithne Ui Shiadhail in the honey business in the early 80s, it turned out they both loved cooking and had a shared passion for preserving traditions. What better way to preserve tradition than to make a traditional preserve? Using Eithne’s grandmother’s recipe, they whipped up their first batch of Grapefruit Marmalade in Peadar and Mairin’s West Cork kitchen and brought it to the market in 1983. It wasn’t long before Peadar was roped into the production line and the trio became the core Folláin team.
Folláin was born using a 100 year old grapefruit marmalade recipe that had been passed down through family generations. 30 years and more than 30 jams later, Folláin are still piping out preserves in the family factory in Ballyvourney, Co Cork.
1985: Building on this modest beginning of hand preparing the fruit and cooking the jams & marmalades in our kitchen, word spread quickly about the delicious jams and marmalades being produced out of our family factory in Cuil Aodha, Co Cork. Follain’s first ‘big break’ came when Superquinn ordered 100 cases of our jams and marmalades to sell in their shops. It was time to move to a slightly bigger factory in Ballymakeera and find five new jam enthusiasts to join the team.
1985: Folláin’s first ‘big break’!
To keep up with the demand for the growing range of preserves and relishes, the family business moved to a new state-of-the-art factory and employed 15 people. Even with a bit more space and modern machines around us, that special homemade quality remains sealed in our jars. How do we do it? Well, that’s a family secret.
Having started with a team of three, we now have a team of 17 working on our delicious preserves, both savoury and sweet. Mairin and Peader’s children spent many of their summer holidays surrounded by indulgently sticky jams and delightfully chunky chutneys learning the family business.
Mairin and Peader’s son Michael works on developing recipes for Folláin when he’s not busy studying commerce. Their daughter Mairead brings her knowledge of studying and working in horticulture to the business. Their other son Aodh has chosen a career path outside of the food industry but, as Mairin and Peader might say, you can’t win them all and two out of three isn’t bad.
Folláin started because of a desire to preserve traditions and passing on those traditions from one generation to the next is at the core of our ethos.
Folláin’s commitment to wholesome food led to the introduction of a No Added Sugar range in 2007 which is just as sweet as the traditional taste Folláin lovers everywhere are used to.
Folláin is the Irish word for wholesome which is at the core of our commitment to honest food made with the purest ingredients to hand. We really believe that preserves have the power to capture nature at its best and that’s what we wanted to share with the world.
Back in 1984, Folláin branched out from the original grapefruit marmalade purely to make use of the delicious gooseberries, strawberries and raspberries that were available locally in Inniscarra and Kanturk, or further afield in County Wexford. Everything we make is made with 100% natural fruit.
Mairin and Peadar’s love of good food and eating well makes home-cooking essential to their happiness. That home cooking comfort and care is at the essence of everything they make. We think it’s the strong family ties in a business capable of producing enough jams to feed a few armies that sets us apart. Even through our expansion, we’re proud that we’ve never lost sight of what is at our core; family and tradition.
2012: Folláin gets a makeover.
Folláin prides itself on using Irish ingredients wherever possible. It’s true, sometimes we have to go further afield to get the sunny Seville oranges for our marmalades. But we work closely with producers like Keelings in Dublin, Clarke’s Fresh Fruit in Meath, Sunnyside Fruit Farm in Cork, Kearns Fruit Farm in Wexford, and The Apple Farm in Tipperary to ensure that wherever possible our jars are oozing with 100% Irish fruit.
If you start with great fruit, you’ll have great jam and so Folláin won’t settle for anything less. The relationship we’ve built up with our producers over the years has led to mutual trust; we trust the producers to give us the best of their fruit and the producers trust us to use their fruit in the best way possible.
Folláin’s jars were given a well-received makeover, with a new look that didn’t change the delicious traditional Folláin recipes.
We aren’t ones for boasting but it can’t be denied that our preserves have gained some fans along the way. It has given us great pleasure to see our products being recognized by organisations whose recognition we treasure. We’ve had tips of the hat from the Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste Awards and Blas Na hEireann, winning a lovely amount of gold, silver and bronze awards along the way.
2012
Great Taste Awards
Blas na hEireann
2013
Great Taste Awards
Thanks to support from The Irish Independent, Folláin have embarked on a Naturally Made From All Things Nice campaign to highlight just how nice our jars really are – inside and out
Folláin is founded in 1983
Mairin and Peadar O’Lionaird have always shared a love for sweet things. When Mairin met Eithne Ui Shiadhail in the honey business in the early 80s, it turned out they both loved cooking and had a shared passion for preserving traditions. What better way to preserve tradition than to make a traditional preserve? Using Eithne’s grandmother’s recipe, they whipped up their first batch of Grapefruit Marmalade in Peadar and Mairin’s West Cork kitchen and brought it to the market in 1983. It wasn’t long before Peadar was roped into the production line and the trio became the core Folláin team.
Folláin was born using a 100 year old grapefruit marmalade recipe that had been passed down through family generations. 30 years and more than 30 jams later, Folláin are still piping out preserves in the family factory in Ballyvourney, Co Cork.
1985: Building on this modest beginning of hand preparing the fruit and cooking the jams & marmalades in our kitchen, word spread quickly about the delicious jams and marmalades being produced out of our family factory in Cuil Aodha, Co Cork. Follain’s first ‘big break’ came when Superquinn ordered 100 cases of our jams and marmalades to sell in their shops. It was time to move to a slightly bigger factory in Ballymakeera and find five new jam enthusiasts to join the team.
1985: Folláin’s first ‘big break’!
To keep up with the demand for the growing range of preserves and relishes, the family business moved to a new state-of-the-art factory and employed 15 people. Even with a bit more space and modern machines around us, that special homemade quality remains sealed in our jars. How do we do it? Well, that’s a family secret.
Having started with a team of three, we now have a team of 17 working on our delicious preserves, both savoury and sweet. Mairin and Peader’s children spent many of their summer holidays surrounded by indulgently sticky jams and delightfully chunky chutneys learning the family business.
Mairin and Peader’s son Michael works on developing recipes for Folláin when he’s not busy studying commerce. Their daughter Mairead brings her knowledge of studying and working in horticulture to the business. Their other son Aodh has chosen a career path outside of the food industry but, as Mairin and Peader might say, you can’t win them all and two out of three isn’t bad.
Folláin started because of a desire to preserve traditions and passing on those traditions from one generation to the next is at the core of our ethos.
Folláin’s commitment to wholesome food led to the introduction of a No Added Sugar range in 2007 which is just as sweet as the traditional taste Folláin lovers everywhere are used to.
Folláin is the Irish word for wholesome which is at the core of our commitment to honest food made with the purest ingredients to hand. We really believe that preserves have the power to capture nature at its best and that’s what we wanted to share with the world.
Back in 1984, Folláin branched out from the original grapefruit marmalade purely to make use of the delicious gooseberries, strawberries and raspberries that were available locally in Inniscarra and Kanturk, or further afield in County Wexford. Everything we make is made with 100% natural fruit.
Mairin and Peadar’s love of good food and eating well makes home-cooking essential to their happiness. That home cooking comfort and care is at the essence of everything they make. We think it’s the strong family ties in a business capable of producing enough jams to feed a few armies that sets us apart. Even through our expansion, we’re proud that we’ve never lost sight of what is at our core; family and tradition.
2012: Folláin gets a makeover.
Folláin prides itself on using Irish ingredients wherever possible. It’s true, sometimes we have to go further afield to get the sunny Seville oranges for our marmalades. But we work closely with producers like Keelings in Dublin, Clarke’s Fresh Fruit in Meath, Sunnyside Fruit Farm in Cork, Kearns Fruit Farm in Wexford, and The Apple Farm in Tipperary to ensure that wherever possible our jars are oozing with 100% Irish fruit.
If you start with great fruit, you’ll have great jam and so Folláin won’t settle for anything less. The relationship we’ve built up with our producers over the years has led to mutual trust; we trust the producers to give us the best of their fruit and the producers trust us to use their fruit in the best way possible.
Folláin’s jars were given a well-received makeover, with a new look that didn’t change the delicious traditional Folláin recipes.
We aren’t ones for boasting but it can’t be denied that our preserves have gained some fans along the way. It has given us great pleasure to see our products being recognized by organisations whose recognition we treasure. We’ve had tips of the hat from the Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste Awards and Blas Na hEireann, winning a lovely amount of gold, silver and bronze awards along the way.
2012
Great Taste Awards
Blas na hEireann
2013
Great Taste Awards
Thanks to support from The Irish Independent, Folláin have embarked on a Naturally Made From All Things Nice campaign to highlight just how nice our jars really are – inside and out
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