Connacht Tribune
Fruit Brothers full of beans
Lifestyle – Fifty years after Frank Burke bought a truck and started delivering fruit and vegetables to hotels and restaurants in Galway and surrounds, his sons Niall and Ronan are putting their stamp on the business. They’ve continued that service while branching out into office and home delivery. The focus is on local and sustainable, they tell JUDY MURPHY.
“Our wages are paid by us, so if an idea can work, we’ll make it work,” says Niall Burke of the innovations that he and his brother, Ronan, have introduced to the family’s thriving wholesale fruit and veg business in recent years.
Burke’s Fruit and Veg was established 50 years ago this year when their father, Frank, bought a truck and started supplying hotels and restaurants in and around Galway.
Burkes still supply Irish-grown and exotic produce to the catering industry and their clients include some of the country’s top establishment. Ashford Castle has been a customer for half a century and, more recently, Burkes have been supplying Kai, Loam and Aniar restaurant in the city and the 12 Hotel in Bearna.
From their base in Parkmore, just down the road from their childhood home in Castlegar where their parents Frank and Anne still live, Niall and Ronan now run the business. Niall came on board in 1998 and Ronan, who initially trained as an electrician, joined 12 years ago.
“I always knew I wanted to do this,” says Niall, while Ronan explains that during the recession, it made sense for him “to come back to what I knew”.
They’d been helping Frank since they were in primary school and have fond memories of going on delivery runs with him as children, “knowing all the customers”, says Niall.
In the past few years, the two have diversified into new markets, supplying workplaces and, more recently, homes, with regular boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables. That’s done under the banner of the Fruit Brothers, an offshoot they established in 2018.
“This business is getting more and more competitive all the time and, like any business, the bigger lads are trying to push the smaller lads out, so we said we’d diversify,” says Niall of its origins.
“A few years ago we saw a change in the market,” adds Ronan. “More people were going to the gym before work and were trying to eat healthier.”
“So we started doing fruit boxes for offices,” adds Niall.
The pair developed this model after exploring trends in other cities worldwide and the take-up locally was terrific, with many multi-nationals and local financial companies subscribing as part of creating a healthy working environment for staff.
“Then Covid came,” says Niall. And lockdown affected all parts of the business.
“We had no restaurants, no hotels and no offices. So we moved to home delivery.”
Niall nods: “We’d always wanted to deal directly with people in some way and Covid forced that.”
The move worked, due in large part to their reputation.
“We had a relationship with people who had been in offices and they knew our standards were high,” says Ronan.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
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Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
