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Last night we were treated to a tour of one of three working oats mills in Ireland, Flahavan’s in Kilmacthomas, about 20 miles from Tramore. The mill has been in the same location, owned by the same family, for over 200 years, though none of the original buildings survive.

Flahavan’s own about 56% of the market for porridge oats in Ireland. Their staff of around 45 people produces rolled oats, cereals, flour and snack products, turning out 2-3 tons of product per hour. The mill is housed in an old building, but most of the equipment is very modern, including a fair bit of robotic equipment in the packaging area. They strive to be energy efficient, burning the waste materials from the oats to produce heat and steam to power areas of the plant for cooking the oats and running machinery. In a turn back to older times, they’ve also recently begun using the Mahon River next to the plant as a power source to turn an electricity-generating turbine, though due to low water levels this is producing a small amount of power for the time being. Flahavan’s produces organic oats products, and has won awards for environmentally-friendly packaging.

Thanks much to the Flahavan family for hosting us, and to Donal Lehane and the Slow Food Ireland - Four Rivers Convivium for setting up the tour.

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