For half a century now Burke’s Fruit and Veg has been delivered crisp fruit and vegetables to restaurants around Galway, but far from wilting this family business has enjoyed fresh growth in recent years.
Where once Burke’s focused exclusively to shops and restaurants, recent times have seen the business expand to bringing fresh produce right to people’s doors.
Galway local Frank Burke started the business in 1971, investing in a truck and a vision of providing local businesses with high quality, affordable, fresh produce.
He thought that building long lasting relationships with his customers was the way forward, and 50 years later, it’s hard to argue with longevity.
Current owners Niall and Ronan Burke have kept the family tradition of timely, and fresh produce deliveries going strong, but further expanded the business to bring their green offerings to the wider community.
The Fruit Brothers.ie was launched in 2018 to fill a niche in the market, bringing fresh produce to people’s front doors at a time when making healthy food at home was becoming more popular in Ireland.
Since then they have delivered over 4,000 boxes of produce around Galway, and have been investing even further in expanding the home delivery service.
In 2020, when the business needed to adapt, the Burkes focused on strengthening the Galway market with their new 6 day a week city delivery service and twice weekly county service.
Ambitious plans call for equally ambitious investment, and to further this Burke’s has moved to a new warehouse, where Niall and Ronan invested €75k in improving the building, and a further €30k on their fleet.
Since its origin over 50 years ago, Burke’s Fruit and Veg has expanded to include a team of over 6 employees and has diversified into many new areas of the fruit and vegetable arena.
Most important to the Burke family, however, is that this has been achieved without compromising on the company’s original principles of continuously striving to source high quality, fresh local produce, maintaining long lasting customer relationships and creating employment in the local community.
Niall & Ronan identified a new market for the growing office wellbeing movement and the home cook looking for more variety of produce not found in the average shop.
Shoppers can find in-season, sustainably sourced produce from farms and growers throughout Ireland, and the freshest in season fruit from around the world; with everything you’d expect to find in a fruit and veg shop along with weird and wonderful produce that will whet and excite any appetite.
They have also partnered with Galway Bakery La Petit Delice so customers can add freshly baked baguettes and sourdough loaves as well as Galway Eggs to their boxes.
The specialty fruit and veg boxes will be biodegradable and fully recyclable as well having the best of fruit loaded with nutrients and goodness. Each box will explain the seasonality of fruits and which months it is when fruits are ripe and best to eat.
This Christmas they are launching a subscription service on www.thefruitbrothers.ie, so you can gift a box of goodness to yourself or another home or office as a healthy treat each week or month.
Keeping things fresh is crucial in business (pun very much intended), and the second generation of Burkes have no intention of slowing down, with plans to extend their organic selection in the new year, as well adding Cold Press Juices to order.
