Mayor of Kildare launches Acorn Kitchens in Ballitore

By Kim O'Leary The Mayor of Kildare, Councillor Ivan Keatley launched new company Acorn Kitchens yesterday, which is being supported by Local Enterprise Office Kildare. Acorn Kitchens, a shared commercial kitchen was designed to house food producers, caterers and independent chefs, and it was set up by Tom and Luke Treacy. The kitchen is a custom built HACCP approved centre designed to offer value to customers, a setting to share ideas with fellow food producers and a place to grow their business from the stage of producing at home to larger scale production. Located in the heart of Ballitore, Acorn Kitchens will provide local employment as they have ambitious plans to expand the business into 2018 and 2019. It will also provide a key service to enable food producers to establish their business without the need for capital investment. Speaking at the launch, the Mayor said: “I am continuously overwhelmed and inspired by the entrepreneurial talent that I encounter on a daily basis across Kildare.  We live in an ever-changing society and our entrepreneurs provide a vision to adapt to these changes.  Luke and Tom Treacy will provide both direct and indirect employment with Acorn Kitchens.  It is imperative that we nurture our local business people, encourage them, and give them support through the Local Enterprise Office as they strive to succeed.” Mr Keatley said: “This facility, the first of its kind in County Kildare, provides an important first step for emerging and expanding food companies. This is a unique way of providing aspiring food entrepreneurs with either long term or hourly/daily use of state-of-the-art facilities without the prohibitive cost of building their own commercial kitchen.” Head of Enterprise, Jacqui McNabb, added: “Entrepreneurs such as Luke & Tom Treacy are shining examples of how Kildare and Ireland can stand out and succeed in a highly competitive environment.  I want to congratulate Luke and Tom on this forward thinking initiative and encourage as many ‘foodpreneurs’ to engage with Acorn Kitchens who can help any aspiring foodie to realise their ambition. “ Entrepreneurs are encouraged to contact Local Enterprise Office Kildare with their business needs via  www.localenterprise.ie/Kildare