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Whether sourcing collagen for shampoos or sourcing crickets as a source of protein, David Scrivens tells how Willows Ingredients in Ashford is all about the personal touch, writes Conall O Móráin.
Part of the premise and promise of shopping in a TK Maxx store is looking for that one treasure amongst a lot of debris.
It’s the same when we’re looking for companies to join us at That Great Business Show. We are always on the lookout for diamond businesses that have not yet been spotted by others.
And there it is! on episode 98 of the podcast we came across David Skrines (61), co-founder of Willows Ingredients in Wicklow, and what a gem it turned out to be. His family business is an international distributor of raw materials for the food, health, sports and animal nutrition industries – and this latest part of the enterprise has come as a great surprise.
Born in England, bred and ‘business’ in the West Midlands, David set up his Irish operation in 2007 after meeting his Irish wife and co-founder Carmelia. To be fair, the couple had extensive knowledge of the industry before starting their own venture, but it was still a leap of faith to go out on their own.
David recalls: “Having both worked in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical sectors for many years, we felt the opportunity was a good fit. We identified a market for joint care products and launched with the support of Bank of Ireland. I have to mention them because we submitted a business plan and they helped us get started with a €25,000 loan and a €10,000 overdraft.’
Willows Ingredients imports products from around the world and distributes to some of the leading brands in human and animal nutrition in Europe and North America. The range of dietary supplements and functional ingredients includes amino acids, joint care products, vitamins, botanicals and ergogenic agents, as well as whey protein, creatine monohydrate, taurine and caffeine. The company also sells branded and unbranded products in the pet food, aqua, beef, dairy, poultry and pork segments.
Turnover in 2020 was €17.1 million and Willows’ gross margin was 25%. “In the beginning, we had very good customers who trusted us,” says Scrivens. “We dedicated ourselves to the success of the business. This was our livelihood and if we didn’t make an effort, there was no livelihood. It’s a very simple fact of life.”
The drive to build a business can come from the founders, but when it’s a family business with three grown children part of the team, the dynamic can be different. There can be multiple viewpoints on strategy, something that can lead to disagreements. However, David and Carmelia seem to have found an answer to a problem that all family businesses can face.
“We’ve had our moments, we’ve had our disagreements, but we’ve been very successful in maintaining our personal relationships with the common goal of growing the business,” explains David. “It was a team effort. I have a business coach I can turn to. Sometimes when you’re running a business of 30 people and multi-tasking, you can’t see the wood for the trees.
Meeting David Scrivens in person, he seems like a man who exudes confidence. And this personality trait has also helped the company succeed. In the early years, a small SME based in Ashford took on large and long-established international companies in their sector. Earning the trust of customers was vital to the progress of Willows Ingredients and David decided that his company’s ‘calling card’ was personal attention.
This was at a time when the world was entering recession after the financial crash. “Most of our competitors were cutting staff. Where there were two or three people in a department, now there was only one. When customers asked a question, they wanted a response within 24 or 48 hours. If we didn’t get an answer, we asked for more time. Because we guaranteed the answers, these customers trusted us.”
Willows Ingredients is active in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, China, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands. Vietnam is another “country of interest” for Willows, as a source of fish or marine collagen used in the global beauty industry. Willow Ingredients has customers who make collagen injections and collagen shampoos. So why, I asked, wouldn’t manufacturers bypass Willows and go directly to the supplier?
“We offer a service for importing products of animal origin into the UK and European markets. It’s complicated in terms of regulations and paperwork. If you are an organization selling a brand, you don’t necessarily have the skills or knowledge to handle this side of the business. We offer sourcing, logistics and warehousing, and customers want just-in-time delivery.”
Finding alternative sources of sustainable food and nutrition is also a mission of Willows Ingredients. Towards the end of my interview, David Scrivens gave me a bowl of 30 ground crickets to eat. To be honest, the taste was similar to a bran breakfast cereal – ie. boring, not much drama in the end.
Crickets are preferred in Asia as a source of protein and are widely used in biscuits, bars and pasta. The cricket’s carbon footprint is negligible compared to cows, pigs and chickens. Recruiting and supplying crickets is part of David’s future business vision and Willows recently secured a major supply deal with Cricket One Asia.
“As the world grows, we need to look for alternative sources of protein. There are plant proteins that are very popular, but now we have to look at insect proteins as well,” he says. Securing EU approval for this food ingredient took three years and €200,000 in liaising with the European Food Standards Agency. Next on Willows’ agenda is black flies for use in pet food.
And so on to the future. “What is our dream? Our dream, our intention and our strategy is for Willows to grow in the alternative protein space and be a big global player in that market – and hopefully make some money.
Conall O Móráin produces and presents the weekly podcast That Great Business Show.
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