Heidi Irvine, Really Garlicky Company and June McAuliffe, Falls of Shin Restaurant and Gift Shop

The Really Garlicky Company owners Gilli and Glen Allingham say ‘Its chic to reek’ – and they should know as they look forward to celebrating the tenth anniversary of their company next year. Gilli and Glen launched their first garlic products at the Nairn Show in 2000, following two years of crop trials on their Nairnshire farm. With support from the Scottish Agricultural College encouraging diversification, Gilli and Glen were able to explore the best type of garlic for the local climate and soil, and to source initial seed samples.  From a small planting of just one and a half acres in the first year, the crop now covers around 30 acres of their ground.

Garlic growing is certainly a minority sport in this country: Gilli and Glen are the only Scottish growers, and there are only two other commercial growers elsewhere in the UK. Gilli said: ‘As there are only three commercial garlic growers in the UK, we find that we often meet at trade shows and other industry events. It’s an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences – we get on well with the others and each of us has a slightly different approach to our market. We have also made contact with garlic growers in Ontario and, although their techniques are different, it has been useful to share information about seed varieties for example.’

Gilli continued: ‘Here in Scotland we grow Hardneck Porcelain garlic. The cloves grow around a central stem, with 5 to 7 big cloves in each bulb. The garlic harvest begins in July each year, and for the ensuing six months we can be sure of providing fresh, quality produce to our markets. However, to ensure that we are able to provide garlic to our customers on a year round basis we have formed an alliance with Patagonian garlic growers. Being in the southern hemisphere, their optimum growing period is the opposite time of year to our own. We have an agreement that they will grow the same type of garlic as we do here in Scotland, meaning that we are now able to supply a consistent top-quality product year round. Although much of our employment is seasonal, up to 18 staff are employed across the business – in administration, the production kitchen and the farm – in the busiest months.’

Developing their market was key to the growth of the business. ‘To help develop our local market in the early days of the company, we began to bake and sell garlic bread at the farmers markets in the area,’ explained Gilli. ‘I would take along a small oven, and the wonderful aroma of the baking bread would attract people to the stand where they were then able to taste the real thing. And so began our range of garlic products.’

Moving the food production and administration element from the farm to their new premises in Nairn three years ago was a huge step forward for the company. Gilli said: ‘We have developed a range of partners who work with us to include Really Garlicky products in oatcakes, soup, cream cheese, mayonnaise and bread to name but a few. We supply to a wide range of outlets across the Highlands and the rest of Scotland. Working with local company TIO, we now supply supermarket chain Tesco, providing Garlic butter in all their Scottish stores. Waitrose also carry our products in their two Scottish stores.’
Gilli and Glen and all the team at Really Garlicky were delighted to win the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Award New Product for their Garlic Ciabatta in 2008: "Winning the award was like a seal of approval.   It gave us the incentive to re-design the ciabatta packaging and offer it to the bigger outlets such as Waitrose and Tesco. And, of course, it was a real pat on the back for everyone in the Really Garlicky team."

Website: http://www.reallygarlicky.co.uk