*Patricia Farrell.
FOR more than a quarter of a century, Wilde Irish Chocolates has been crafting delicious, hand-made confectionary in Tuamgraney.
The East Clare enterprise has attracted a loyal following throughout the county and beyond for its chocolate exploits.
Self-confessed chocaholic and founder Patricia Farrell says having an interest in the industry is key to success. “Myself and my husband Con thought we’d try and start a business and being a chocaholic, I thought we should do something like that. If you read anything about starting a business, they say you should try and do something that you’re interested in or that you have a bit of experience in so we had a bit of experience of tourism and food production so it seemed like a logical step to make”.
“We’ve been making chocolate here in Tuamgraney for over a quarter of a century which seems like a long, long time. We started making chocolates that were interesting to visitors to Ireland and that have a high end reflection of the people and Ireland. It worked quite well and we’re here since”, the chocolatier continued.
Originally from Dublin, Patricia started the business in 1997. She says the small village of Tuamgraney is an ideal location for a small business such as hers. “Tuamgraney is a small little village but East Clare is a hugely accessible place for Limerick, for Galway, for Dublin with the motorway and the airport”.
“There’s a lot more to be seen here and quite a lot of outdoor activities so we actually get quite a lot of visitors here. We’re approximate to all the big cities nearby so we’re convenient for Mid Clare and the centre of Clare. It’s on a very good road network”, Patricia told The Clare Echo.
Wilde Irish Chocolates is situated in the Enterprise Centre in Tuamgraney. This location has worked to the business’ advantage with low set up costs and the advantage of a good urban road network nearby. The site boasts a chocolate factory that produces a wide variety of bars, giftboxes and hampers. The chocolate factory is open for visitors and offers a hot chocolate café with eight different varieties of the sweet drink along with an extensive coffee menu.
The tightknit community has helped the business grow in recent times, helping Wilde Irish to become a regular sites at events like the Scariff Harbour Festival and Brian Boru Festival in Killaloe.
“There aren’t any other food producers in the area but we coordinate anything in the tourism with other local businesses and people who are interested in tourism like McKernan’s Woolen Mills, Nuala’s down in the village centre, Killaloe, Scariff Harbour Festival, Brian Boru, all the nearby places, a lot of them have a good local residential population who are quite happy to support you by shopping here”, said Patricia.
“We have a lot of customers who come to buy presents and gifts for friends and relatives or come and have coffee or have hot chocolate. It’s the local community that are extremely supportive of local businesses. Tourism in this part of the county is growing so they see the benefits of it. They like to see employment locally and they like to see a nice business doing well. The local community is very, very supportive I must say”, she added.
Despite their success so far, Wilde Irish Chocolates show no signs of slowing down. Patricia says that the business is looking to become more streamlined by prioritising a leaner business model and better managing its online traffic. “Don’t give up, don’t let setbacks knock you because they’ll come. The learning curve is never shallow. They say if you survive the first five years you’ll do well and we’re here more than 25 years. You never stop learning. Fix the problems as they come and don’t overthink it. Try and solve problems and be consistent”.
