Q&A Bryan Murphy, UK sales director, Dawn Farms Foods

How did you get involved in the food business?

More than 30 years ago, in my first job interview after leaving college, our CEO, Larry Murrin, sold me on the vision he had for Dawn Farms Foods (DFF) and the direction he was taking the business. I was inspired by his passion for the business and the industry, especially his focus on the customer and the people within DFF. Back then, we were an Irish food business focussed on the indigenous Irish food market, but his vision has since brought DFF to become a leading European cooked protein ingredients company. I have held several roles within DFF across business development, and prior to my current role, I was general manager of Dawn Farms Distribution.

Tell us a little about your role at Dawn Farms…

My current role is UK sales director. I am responsible for the sales of cooked protein ingredients into the foodservice channel, but also the manufacturing channels operating across pizza, sandwich, ready meal, food to go and snacking producers supplying into the UK retail and coffee chains.

As a business, we are a leading B2B specialist supplier of bespoke fully cooked and ready to eat protein (meat and plant-based) and fermented sausage (pepperoni, chorizo, salami) products produced in our state-of-the-art facilities in Naas, outside Dublin, for the UK market. I am also responsible for the sales of cooked bacon, cooked sausage, pigs in blankets, and complementary plant-based options, which are also classified as ready to eat and produced in one of Britain’s longest standing and great cooked bacon companies, TMI Foods in Northampton. I have great colleagues working with me, some of whom have been working across our two businesses for as long as I have, both in the UK and Ireland.

In our business, we like to put the customer at the heart of everything we do, and that permeates through to all our roles in the organisation. “Everyone must support the customer, or support someone who does.”

What are the main challenges to deal with right now in terms of manufacturing and maintaining consistent supply to your customers?

Like all businesses, we are experiencing the same challenges, with respect to inflation (in ingredients and raw material, cost of energy and transport etc) and a volatile supply chain. And while supply chains remain delicately balanced, it is incumbent and an absolute priority for us as a business that we continue to place a huge emphasis on a secure and consistent supply of safe, high quality food products that our customers, and their consumers, can trust and enjoy as the hero ingredient in their favourite pizza, pasta dish, sandwich, or ready meal.

What are the main trends the company is responding to? Vegan? Gluten-free? Plant-based?

We have a relentless focus on science and innovation as a business enabled through insights from industry and our own market analysis given. We work with some of the world’s leading food brands. We are faced with times of uncertainty and inflation, so consumers are looking to trusted brands to bring solutions to their needs.

There is a desire for conscious value, sustainable health, nutrition, and nostalgic or permissible indulgence as consumers seek flavour adventure and occasion led treats and indulgences, to share with family and friends. Meat remains the number one protein, however in both our meat and plant protein products, we see what we describe as permissible indulgence coming into focus as we move into 2023, as consumers seek new ways to be healthy and sustainable, without compromising on taste, flavour and texture. In this environment, our focus on innovation allows us to bring fresh and on-trend new menus ideas to customers, which in turn helps them to create a point of differentiation from their competitors.

What future trends do you anticipate? (in relation to pizza toppings, for example)

Global flavours continue to be popular, as consumers explore cuisines and cultures through food, with a shift from well-known global flavours to hyper-regional ones forecast for this year. Regional BBQ is a good example of that. We offer two options in plant-based pepperoni including a jackfruit version as well as a classic chorizo. Consumers are also showing a desire for authentic and original food experiences. Pizza is a great format to blend emerging flavour trends into a more classic familiarity.

There is also an increase in demand for higher quality, value options. The real opportunity is to catch these consumers as their behaviour shifts, with ‘affordable value’ and a quality promise.

Any new product launches and developments to report that are of interest to the Italian food sector and pizza?

We have a bank of pizza-ready NPD products including Nduja sausage, a plant-based buffalo chicken that is great on a pizza, and more recently, we launched some new toppings in what has been a very well received “permissible indulgence” range, that are ideal as pizza toppings.

Truffle flavoured Salami, Jerk Ham, and Tuscan Style Chicken were all developed, based on our insight-led trending flavours, to meet consumers’ desire for indulgence/ treats , escapism, and enjoyment.

Any projects you can shout about in terms of companies you have worked with to deliver a specific product/food ingredient solution?

We have many collaborations within the food industry. TMI was the first to offer a natural, clean, and authentic smoke flavour bacon by combining the world-first PureSmoke™ Technology, with our existing traditional smokers to remove up to 95% impurities naturally present in smoke. Our smoked water ingredient adds a new level of ‘smoke’ flavour to the TMI crispy bacon.

In addition to this, we have replaced sodium nitrite (E250) with a natural flavouring (made from fruit and spices) that maintains the natural bacon colouring and flavour without any preservatives or additives. One of our most significant calling cards is that all our products are fully ready to eat, and this remains a significant food safety advantage and signal of our interest in the ever-developing science and technology of cooked protein.

As a business we are, and I am, passionate about our unwavering focus on food safety and quality, innovation and teamwork, ensuring we have, along with our great customers, a sustainable future working together. Our commitment is to deliver great tasting ingredients, created with passion for our customers products so that they can continue to delight their customers across every eating occasion.