Food services locally are really feeling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of certain businesses.
While takeaways may be booming and restaurants and cafés are trying to adapt to new ways of operating to retain customers, there is no denying the economic impact coronavirus continues to play on food businesses.
One such business, Goatsbridge Trout Farm in Kilkenny, spoke to KCLR’s The Bottom Line on Saturday morning to reveal the extent of the impact on their operations.
“We have been impacted pretty strongly in the lastcouple of weeks, especially this week we see for the first time it really impacting” says owner Mag Kirwan in speaking with KCLR’s John Purcell.
“Overnight we lost all of our food service customers and that would account for approximately 30-40% of our business.”
“It’s very important now for us to plan very carefully over the coming months. With the summer coming into play and warmer temperatures, we’ll have more fish in the water than we would have expected to have in relation to our production plan.”
“So that’s something that is seriously concerning us. We still have the same overhead, and that’s a struggle.”
“We’re still in business”
Despite the sharp decline in the food service side of their business, Mag was thankful for the support of staff and customers as the Covid-19 crisis has unfolded.
“Unlike the majority of businesses, we’re still in business”, she outlined to The Bottom Line.
“We’ve had great support from our staff who have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks and we’ve done everything we need in relation to keeping everyone safe and well.”
“We have a duty of care to our employees, for everyone who works for us, for our customers. We have a duty of care to keep the food chain going and supplying the food chain.”
The Bottom Line is KCLR’s programme for and about business in Kilkenny and Carlow, presented Saturday mornings just after 9am by John Purcell. This interview, along with all the week’s interviews, will be available on Tuesday’s business podcast via Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you do your podcast listening.
