Dew Valley Foods

Dew Valley Foods
Dew Valley Meats
TypePrivate (unlimited company)
IndustryFood processing
PredecessorBlake's Victualler
FoundedApril 14, 1981 (1981-04-14) (incorporated)
Headquarters
Thurles, County Tipperary
,
Ireland
Key peopleJack Blake (owner and managing director)
ProductsCooked bacon
OwnerDew Valley Foods UK Limited
Number of employees
c. 400 (2026)
Websitedewvalley.com

Dew Valley Foods is an Irish manufacturer of cooked bacon. It is based on the Holycross Road, near Thurles, County Tipperary. It supplies foodservice, quick-service restaurant and food-manufacturing customers. It has supplied McDonald's restaurants in Ireland since 2013. The company is privately owned by Jack Blake. As of 2024, it is considered one of the largest producers of cooked bacon in Europe.

History

Blake's Victualler (1830–1988)

The Blake family were victuallers and butchers at Westgate, Thurles, from the 1830s with John Blake and Maurice Blake, who is the great-great-grandfather of the current owner of Dew Valley Foods. John Blake traded at "The Gate" in 1866. He is listed as a butcher in Slater's Directory of 1870.

18th-century engraving of West Gate ("The Gate") before it collapsed in 1868, on houses including the Blake's shop

His shop and house collapsed on 28 April 1868 when a medieval structure fell, which is represented in an 18th-century engraving.

Nenagh Guardian article from 2 May 1868, describing the events

He died in 1882. His widow Johanna kept the shop. Their son John (born 1877) was a butcher at Westgate. Their son William (born 1879) ran a grocery and spirits business at 17–18 Liberty Square. The shop advertised in The Tipperary Star on 4 August 1934. The paper had a photograph of two Blake's Victualler family members on its front page on 2 July 1949. John Joachim Blake (1914–1998) succeeded to his father in running the family business. On 21 May 1983, newspapers marked the 150th anniversary of Blake's butchers with a special edition of multiple pages detailing its history. Blake's advertised regularly in local and national newspapers. In 1988 the family sold the Westgate butcher shop to the Carway family who kept it running as a butcher shop. The meat processing business remained with the Blakes. John Joachim Blake was a director of Dew Valley Foods UK Limited from 1997 until 3 December 1998, the day he died. The building of the original shop still stands and has been used by multiple businesses other than victualling. In 2024, tributes in newspapers describe a Thurles man who worked in the butcher trade at "Blake's" and at Dew Valley Meats..

Dew Valley Foods (1980–today)

Incorporation and expansion

The company was incorporated in 1981. Sources date its start of production to 1984, its establishment to 1987 and its move to the current site to 1990 or 1993. Dew Valley Foods UK Limited was incorporated in March 1997. John Patrick Blake, otherwise named Jack Blake in newspaper articles, has been its director and secretary since then.

In October 2008 the government announced a €21.8 million investment, supported by Enterprise Ireland. It funded a research centre and 55 jobs. The company then had 160 employees. About 90 per cent of output was exported. This included about 500 tonnes a month to the United Kingdom.

A McDonald's restaurant in Ireland (Navan town)

McDonald's partnership

In September 2013 Dew Valley won a contract to supply all 84 McDonald's restaurants in Ireland. The contract covers up to nine million pieces of bacon a year. McDonald's had previously imported bacon from the United Kingdom. The value was not disclosed. Estimates ranged from €2 million to €3 million over five years. The company had 250 employees at that stage.

In 2026, Dew Valley now supplies 96 of its restaurants across the Republic of Ireland.

Facilities and workforce

In March 2016 the company sought permission for an 8,200 m² extension. In 2022 it had over 400 employees.

In 2023–24 the company commissioned a 25-acre solar farm. In November 2024 it applied to Tipperary County Council for an 11,000 m² extension. The plan would raise employment from about 450 to 630. The Irish Independent reported that it could create about 180 jobs.

Operations

The company cures its own streaky bacon. It cooks bacon by a specific microwave-based process. It says it was the first in Europe to do so. It is a Gold member of Bord Bia's Origin Green programme. The site holds ISO 14001 certification. As an unlimited company it files no public accounts.

Dew Valley approached Teagasc's Moorepark Technology Ltd to find a use for the bacon fat left over from microwave cooking, and the fat was converted into a powdered smoky bacon flavouring by microencapsulation. The product was placed in the top three in the research award category at Food Ingredients Europe Exhibition in Frankfurt in November 1998.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Dew Valley Foods Unlimited Company". SoloCheck. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Thurles meat producer wins multimillion euro contract". Thurles Information. 15 September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Dew Valley Foods UK Limited – officers". Companies House. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  4. 1 2 "McDonald's and Dew Valley Foods: partnership driving Irish food innovation". Irish Farmers Journal. 26 February 2026. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "About us". Dew Valley Foods. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  6. 1 2 "McDonald's Ireland brings home the bacon in new deal with Dew Valley". Agriland. September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  7. ↑ "Tipp Echo November 27 2024". Issuu. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  8. ↑ "Meat firm creates 55 jobs in Tipperary". Irish Examiner. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Humphrys, Mark. "Blake". Humphrys Family Tree. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  10. ↑ Humphrys, Mark. "John Blake". Humphrys Family Tree. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  11. ↑ Humphrys, Mark. "William Blake". Humphrys Family Tree. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  12. ↑ "Blake's Butchers, Westgate, Thurles". The Tipperary Star (Advertisement). 4 August 1934. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  13. ↑ "Blake and O'Connor (photograph)". The Tipperary Star. 2 July 1949. p. 5. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  14. ↑ "Wedding Bells: Blake/Moore". Irish Independent. 17 July 1957. p. 5. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  15. ↑ "Blake–Moore wedding". The Tipperary Star. 1957. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  16. ↑ "150th anniversary of Blake's butchers". The Tipperary Star. 21 May 1983. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  17. ↑ "Blake's Butchers". The Tipperary Star (Advertisement). 4 May 1985. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  18. ↑ "Blakes". The Tipperary Star. 19 November 1988. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  19. ↑ "Blake's Butchers". The Tipperary Star. 24 December 1988. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  20. ↑ "John Blake". The Tipperary Star. 12 December 1998. Accessible via Irish Newspaper Archives.
  21. ↑ "Tributes paid after 'unexpected and sudden passing' of popular Tipperary man". Tipperary Live. 25 March 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  22. ↑ Unknown, Unknown (17 January 2026). "One of the Premier County's leading employers is set for a major expansion". Tipp FM. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  23. 1 2 "55 jobs to be created as Dew Valley Foods invests €21m in Thurles plant". The Irish Times. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  24. 1 2 "Tipperary food company reveals major expansion plans over the next decade". Tipperary Live. December 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  25. ↑ "John Patrick Blake – personal appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  26. ↑ "Meat firm creates 55 jobs in Tipperary". Irish Examiner. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  27. ↑ "Dew Valley Foods to invest over €21m in expansion and R&D". Irish Examiner USA. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  28. ↑ "€21.8m investment for Dew Valley Foods". RTÉ News. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  29. ↑ "Dew Valley – €22m invested in new research and development". Thurles Information. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  30. ↑ "Firm lands bacon deal". Irish Independent. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  31. ↑ "In Brief: McDonald's joy for Irish firm". Irish Independent. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  32. ↑ "Bringing home bacon: firm in €2m deal with McDonalds". Irish Independent. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  33. ↑ "Dew Valley wins contract to supply McDonald's with bacon pieces". Irish Mirror. September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  34. ↑ "Bacon deal for Dew Valley". Irish Examiner. September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  35. ↑ "Dew Valley to supply all of McDonald's Irish restaurants with bacon". RTÉ News. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  36. ↑ "Dew Valley signs €3m McDonald's bacon deal". Irish Farmers Journal. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  37. ↑ "Thurles-based Dew Valley secures McDonalds deal". Tipperary Live. September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  38. ↑ "Thurles company to supply all McDonald's outlets". Farmers Forum. September 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  39. ↑ "McDonald's and Dew Valley Foods: partnership driving Irish food innovation". www.farmersjournal.ie. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  40. ↑ "McDonald's in Waterford celebrates its 30th birthday". Irish Independent. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  41. ↑ "Expansion planned for Thurles company". Tipp FM. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  42. ↑ "Call to light road leading to Dew Valley Foods in Thurles". The Tipperary Star. 18 January 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  43. ↑ "Job alert: Dew Valley Foods currently recruiting for various positions". Tipperary Live. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  44. ↑ "Tipperary's Dew Valley Foods lodges plans for major expansion of its Thurles meat processing plant". Irish Independent. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  45. ↑ "Plans to expand Tipperary cooked bacon plant Dew Valley Foods could create 180 jobs". Irish Independent. 24 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  46. ↑ "Dew Valley – case study 2025". Bord Bia. Retrieved 13 November 2026.
  47. 1 2 Ahlstrom, Dick (9 April 1999). "Researchers pull the fat from the processing fire". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 November 2026.