‘From Milan to making sheep yogurt in Mayo’

INSPIRATION CBWC hear the story of Aisling Roche Flanagan

The ongoing COVID restrictions have not stopped the Cavan Business Women’s Club from meeting regularly to hear from inspirational guest speakers and support each other. Now meeting via Zoom they held their most recent networking event on Wednesday June 16. Some 30 women in business attended to hear guest speaker Aisling Roche Flanagan of Velvet Cloud, producer of specialist sheep dairy products based in Claremorris, Co. Mayo, tell her business story and how she managed to increase sales in 2020 despite losing 40% of customers when Covid hit.

Aisling told how after many years working in Milan with Bord Bia, Aisling and husband Michael moved back to Claremorris to her husband’s traditional dairy and sheep farm.

Living abroad Aisling said that they noticed the prevalence of sheep dairy products, something that was not popular in Ireland. With an increasing interest in wellness and an awareness of food intolerances, they set up a company to produce Sheep’s Milk Products under the brand, Velvet Cloud. Available in over 100 Irish retail outlets they had to offer their products online when Covid struck. She said this move has sustained them, and noted that moving online would have been even more of a challenge if it were not for all the supports that were afforded to businesses at that time, including many supports from the Local Enterprise Offices like the Trading Online Voucher Scheme.