This article is from page 6 of the 2011-05-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
IRISH shoppers are clearly gasping for a taste of Clare after water produced and bottled in the Banner County became the best-selling product of its kind at one of Ireland’s largest retail stores.
Clare Spring Water, which directly employs 15 people and a further 11 through sales, was set up in 2009. Managing Director, Paul Connellan told a meeting in Ennis last week that Clare Spring had become a bestseller at Dunnes Stores over the past 12 months.
Mr Connellan recalled the company’s success at a meeting organised by the Clare branch of Network Ireland. Mr Connellan said that LEADER funding of € 200,000, secured through the Clare Local Research Company, had been hugely important in the establishment of Clare Spring Water.
Mr Connellan said the company, which produces water at its € 4.2 million plant in High Street, Lissycasey, has sought to ensure its competitiveness through careful control of costs and efficient waste management.
The company made history last year by becoming the first ever to produce a biodegradable plastic bottle, an innovation that helped it win an annual contract to supply 14 million bottles of natural spring water Schipol Airport in Amsterdam.
He said that research into the area of plant-based plastics had led to the development of the biodegradable bottle. He added that the Schipol contract had given “tremendous confidence” to the company, which also exports bottled water to the UK. He said, “Foreign markets are interested in what’s evolving and changing and innovative”. Mr Connellan said the company had received a “lot of goodwill and local support”.