MAKING A CLEAN START
Palm oil is frowned on by environmentalists, on the basis that palm trees are hacked down in rainforests when they grow too high. Deforestation affects carbon in the atmosphere, and also impacts wild animals. Palm oil is used in the manufacture of multiple food products, as well as cosmetics and soap and, given the choice, some consumers prefer palm-free soap.
That’s good for Palm Free Irish Soap, based in Killaloe in Co. Clare. Owners Tony and Katherine Hoynes, who previously ran a cleaning business in London, landed on the west coast in the 1990s, looking for a holiday home. They decided to stay, with Kathy making chemical-free soap as a hobby that developed into a cottage business.
‘Gallunach, The Original Handmade Irish Soap’ exported soap by the pallet to be sold on QVC in the US. The venture went into abeyance due to family reasons, and Tony Hoynes’ fortunes turned with the 2008 economic crash.
“Having suffered at the hands of the Celtic Tiger and almost ending up homeless and penniless, an opening to train for a certification in offshore survival and offshore rigging emerged in Donegal,” Hoynes (62) recalls. “After qualifying, I was offered an unskilled position on a rig in the North Sea, and because of my background in engineering it wasn’t long before I was working as a HVAC technician.
“Then I travelled to Abu Dhabi to train as an ROV pilot, a job that I had always dreamed of doing. After completing my training, I worked across the UAE, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Croatia and eventually back in the North Sea again, on a survey vessel tasked with locating and destroying unexploded ordnance from the Second World War.”
While her husband was abroad, Kathy made soap. Palm Free Irish Soap commenced trading in 2015 and, with assistance from Clare LEO, exhibited at Showcase, the annual crafts trade show at the RDS in Dublin.
According to Tony: “The next year
Tony Hoynes and his family’s Palm Free Irish Soap brand
we travelled the length and breadth of Ireland visiting outlets, meeting new customers, and securing orders. In 2016 we started exploring the possibility of expanding the business and employing staff, and in 2017 we converted a barn to a purpose-built workshop.”
As well as providing a living for the couple, the micro business employs the Hoynes’ three daughters. The venture also makes and sells shaving bars and shampoo bars, at price points from €4.95 to €6.50. Company net worth in December 2022 was €285,000, when net current assets were €163,000.
“Thankfully business is looking very good for 2024,” says Tony. “Every single bar is mixed, poured, cut and stamped entirely by hand. We don’t have any fancy machines, just good honest elbow grease, which keeps us all fit too.”