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he Traas family have been growing fruit for over 200 years. When Willem and Ali Traas found themselves running out of space in their native Netherlands, they upped sticks and moved to Ireland. After much searching, they finally settled in Tipperary in the late 60s, buying a farm with an established apple orchard. Since then, the family have expanded their business, opening a farm shop in the 1970s to provide a route to market for their increasing range, and a farm campsite in the 1980s. They now produce over 60 apples varieties, four strawberries, three raspberries, three plums, two pears and four cherries, all of which are sold through their farm shop or used in the production of their own brand cider, vinegar, jams and jellies. The business is now run by Willem and Ali’s son, Con. “When my parents were out harvesting they used to carry me in a bucket with apples,” explained Con. “I guess you could say I was involved with fruit production before I could even walk.” Willem and Ali made a point of instilling their passion and knowledge for fruit production in Con and he went on to cultivate it through his involvement in the business and by completing a degree and masters focused on pomology and apple pathology. The Traas family business, The Apple Farm, represents an excellent example of how knowledge, experience, innovation and diversification can be put into action to create a sustainable fruit production business. I was delighted to get the opportunity to talk with Con about the business, the challenges he faces and his plans for future.
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PHOTO: UTIMA
CORE BUSINESS BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS CON TRAAS
Can you outline your typical work day? The only typical thing about a working day on the farm is that it lasts about 12 hours, and is often seven days a week. The most normal days are those I spend lecturing at the University of Limerick, where I have a good idea of what is ahead of me from day to day and week to week. On the farm I could be harvesting fruit, or in oily overalls fixing a machine, or dressed in a suit to meet a client, sometimes within a scarily short time frame. As the business has expanded, how has your focus changed? We added parts to the business (or farm as I prefer to call it - I regard myself as a farmer rather than a businessman) as we got comfortable with what we were already doing. It is one of the afflictions of a wandering mind, and can cause headaches trying to manage lots of small units. We added juice production in 1995, and use about a third of our production to make juice, cider or cider vinegar. The lecturing side of my life is on average two and a half days per week for about 10 months of the year. Your business model would appear to fly in the face of contemporary intensive approaches to production. Rather than specialise, rationalise and consolidate, you have diversified all aspects of your business. Can you provide some insight into why this approach was taken and why it’s worked for you? I am conscious of that every day. We are not the most efficient at any of our products, with the possible exception of apples. It is all facilitated by the fact that we sell most of our products
HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Summer 2017
