My name is Oonagh Monahan, Founder and Principle of Alpha Omega Consultants in Co.Leitrim which I set up in 2008 to provide Food Business Development Consultancy services to the food industry. I'm the author of the book “Money for Jam – the Essential Guide to Starting your Own Small Food Business”.

I graduated from NUIGalway in 1986 with a degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry. I then went to DIT Kevin St and did a Graduate Diploma in Food Science and Technology. From there I worked in Elan Pharmaceuticals in Ahtlone for a short while before winning a scholarship from HJ Heinz (the salad cream people) to do a research Masters in Engineering Science at UCD. I worked as a food technologist and Quality manager at Manor Bakeries in the UK making cakes for Mr. Kipling and Cadbury’s before returning to Ireland as Quality Manager with Kerry Foods at Grove Turkeys in Monaghan. I left the food industry for a while and was Production Manager at Fort Dodge Labortatories in Sligo which made veterinary vaccines and I was the first woman appointed to the Board of Directors there. Then I moved to the role of General Manager at the Food Technology Centre at St. Angela’s College in Sligo before setting up Alpha Omega Consultants in 2008.

My food business clients come from all across the island of Ireland and are very diverse, ranging from small, one-person start-up operations, whether food producers or in the hospitality sector, to medium-sized health food companies, to large vegetable processors or bakeries, for example, some of whom are exporting to the UK and beyond. My typical day might consist of meeting clients for mentoring (I have mentored over 300 individuals over the past 10 years), organising food business training courses, working on strategic development for growth, business planning for expansion and diversification, making funding applications, helping them with new product development, faciliating knowledge transfer between food businesses and academia, helping them plan for the potential challenges that Brexit might bring by looking at their export options and the effect on the bottom line, as well as addressing with various issues on behalf of the Irish Bread Bakers’ Association, including fielding queries from the media.