Sussed Nutrition is a food producer based in Wicklow, a sister company of Wicklow Rapeseed Oil. Keith Symes (pictured), a farmer by trade, is at the helm of the venture, which has developed a range of healthy heart oils and vinegars using the cold pressed method, ensuring that each product offers maximum health benefits to the consumer.
What was the pandemic experience of your business through 2020?
There were some real initial challenges in terms of coordination of logistics and ensuring the safety of our team while still providing a reliable service to our valued customers. We worked hard and managed to make this adjustment in just ten working days.
What was your main challenge in addressing the pandemic's impact?
We did all we could to limit staff exposure, ensuring that the virus was neither contracted nor spread. Sussed increased production to seven-day shifts with only one person in production at a time, I worked from home so that there was only one person in the office and one person on deliveries, all the while following the guidelines in terms of face covering, social distancing and constant sterilisation.
What’s your view on state supports for business in response to the public health emergency?
I think companies' past and present turnover should have been analysed before handing out grant-aided funding. Some companies received grant-aided funding and had tripled their previous turnover. I believe that it would have made more sense to give increased funding in areas like food service, which were severely under-performing.
Looking into 2021, what is your expectation for the trading environment and the economy?
Honestly, my outlook is very positive. Sussed is a 100% natural product range and has seen strong growth in all major retailers throughout the pandemic. We have just secured a large contract for 2021 and are investing heavily in upgrading the production facility to ensure the quality of our products remains constant as the company develops.
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Is there one positive business lesson that you might take away from your experience through 2020?
Try to get out of the grass and see potential opportunities. Running a small company requires multi-tasking, which can be really challenging when things are chaotic. Sometimes you need to stop and evaluate your circumstances. It’s often then that opportunities arise which would have been missed.
