You wouldn’t believe what it takes to bring you your Christmas pudding!

“WHEN the Houthi rebels were blowing up ships [in July of this year], our containers had to be re-routed around the horn of Africa”, said Brian Seery of Seery’s Bakery. The attacks are just one example of how local businesses which produce our Christmas fare are affected by geopolitical events.

The attacks on ships created delays of up to four weeks and increased costs for the Carlow bakery. “It’s mad stuff,” said Mr Seery.

“The world went through a fairly seismic change in the past few years; Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine have been absolutely massive,” he noted.

The uncertainty around Brexit in 2020 led Mr Seery and his business partner to ask questions about the viability of the UK market, which up until that point had been a large part of their business. Increased red tape and regulations “made it very difficult to deal with the UK” at that time.

“We’ve got the hang of it now, but back then we were all learning on the fly,” said Mr Seery.

In terms of Ukraine, there has been “massive challenges” with sourcing ingredients for their cakes. The recent outbreak of Avian flu has had a massive impact on the price of eggs, “a key structural ingredient” in their cakes.

The weather conditions in places like Turkey have an impact on the price of dried fruit, and rapeseed oil and flour prices were “driven through the roof” when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, he said.

The UK remains the company’s biggest export market, but it is focusing much more on satisfying demand on this island and building up its relationship with vendors in France. It is moving away from a Christmas-dominated production cycle, too.

“Christmas is important to us, but not as much as it used to be,” he continued. P

eople are still buying Christmas puddings, but in much smaller portions: those with alternative fillings, like chocolate melts or salted caramel, are gaining traction.

“We used to make a 1.3kg pudding years ago, but we don’t make anything that size anymore. The most popular is around 400 grams,” Mr Seery explained.

Seery’s Bakery now employs 75 people, but it was established by Mr Seery’s parents in 1989 in a converted garage at their family home.

“It’s tough to hear about long-established businesses in Carlow closing,” said Mr Seery. “It’s been very difficult, but we’re still here.”