Athenry bakery is back in business

Date Published: 02-Nov-2011

One of the county’s most renowned bakeries has risen like the proverbial phoenix from the flames which all but destroyed the business six months ago to reposition itself on the royal shelves of Harrods.

The Foods of Athenry bakery at Oldcastle, Kilconieron, managed to begin limited production of their award-winning produce just ten weeks after the massive fire gutted the main part of the bakery and offices.

In total the fire caused a half a million euro worth of damage but it could have been much worse.

The gluten free side of the bakery which had been completed just a few days in preparation for a new product line before was untouched as it was behind a firewall.

The insurance company got fully behind the owners, Paul and Siobhán Lawless, managing to be on site the day of the blaze to assess the smoldering ruin.

Unfortunately the Lawless family had invested in new equipment and packaging for the gluten free line which they had forgotten to add to the insurance policy. Gone was new packaging worth €26,000 that had just arrived which was to adorn the new range.

Their failure to make a simple call to FBD resulted in them being out of pocket by €120,000.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.