When I joined Golden Vale in 1996, it was a big dairy business with a branded portfolio in Ireland, but not in the UK. Marketing director Denis O'Riordan told me: 'We must inno-vate, and we must communicate.' We managed to do both, and created Cheestrings, which grew to become a £60m brand.
Denis, who is now market manager for EU and Continental Markets at Kerry Foods, remains a friend whose experience and passion for food and marketing has rubbed off on me throughout my career.