Construction has begun on a new flour mill in Ballycarney, County Wexford, Ireland, following an official sod-turning ceremony on 8 October, according to Slaney Flour.
The development, previously reported as an investment of more than EU€50 million, is a joint venture between Hemelter Ireland and Ballycarney Grain Ltd, operated by Wexford brothers Andrew and Raymond Kavanagh. According to the company, the Slaney Flour mill will combine international milling expertise with generations of Wexford farming and grain-handling experience.
The facility is expected to have a milling capacity of 300 tonnes per day, wheat storage of approximately 24,000 tonnes, an innovative square silo design, two intake bays and two outloading bays. According to Slaney Flour, the mill will use around 100,000 tonnes of grain per year to produce approximately 80,000 tonnes of flour.
The project aims to reduce Ireland’s reliance on imported flour. According to the company, the country imports around 260,000 tonnes of flour per year from the UK, Germany and France, and Hemelter Ireland currently supplies about 40,000 tonnes annually to the Irish bakery industry.
“Bringing flour production back to Ireland strengthens the entire bakery supply chain, resulting in less dependence on imports, and significantly less exposure to weather events or geopolitical risks,” said Marc Cordesmeyer, Managing Director of Hemelter Ireland. He added that the mill’s location near ports will provide diverse access to grain, including imports from Germany, Poland and Canada, while supporting the growing and use of Irish grain.
According to the company, trials conducted with the Kavanagh brothers on growing grain in Ireland have yielded promising results for flour production.
“This is exactly what we want to be doing for our tillage industry,” said Martin Heydon TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. “The collaboration here around the food security piece, around building up the supply chains, and provenance in that regard as well, and adding value for our tillage farmers.”
Ballycarney Grain was established in 2011 as a grain drying and storage facility. It manages malting barley from 150 farmers across the south-east for Diageo Ireland through Boortmalt.
Hemelter Mühle is a family-owned German milling business with almost 140 years in flour milling and more than 20 years supplying the Irish bakery industry.
The project will also focus on efficient milling, traceability and the production of wheat bran for use in animal feed.
