West Cork boasts three artisan salt producers bringing an added flavour to the region’s foodie reputation.

A LOVE of the sea, swimming, surfing and sailing, is what led Billy Hosford to launch his carbon-zero, Salt of Kinsale.

‘Surfing and sailing and generally being in the sea have always been a huge part of my life,’ said Billy. ‘So my passion for salt comes really from a love of the ocean more so than anything and the idea of recreating the flavour that you taste from your skin after being in the water was really exciting to me.’

Billy’s background is in food. His parents owned Mary Anne’s pub in Castletownshend, and he opened and ran a restaurant in the Caribbean for ten years before returning to Ireland.

‘My light bulb moment for launching Salt of Kinsale in ’24, was when I was on a surf trip in Indonesia years ago, and watching how the local fishermen would fill shells in the morning with water and by the end of the day they had just sea salt left in their shells. I loved how simple and straightforward and sustainable that process was. I’ve aimed to achieve the simplicity and of this idea in Salt of Kinsale – although it takes a little longer with the Irish weather!’

Billy lives with his family at the Old Head which is where he collects seawater when the tides are at optimum level.

‘We gently filter the water through a gravitational micron filter into our polytunnels. The prevailing wind and sun gently evaporates the water over a period of about four weeks, to leave us with our crystal sea salt. We then harvest this by hand, very gently so we don’t lose the lovely crystal shape that have formed. That really is a labour of love. We don’t use any heat processing, in fact we don’t even have electricity on our salt farm so our salt is carbon zero and a really sustainably produced,’ he said

What sets Kinsale Salt apart is that it’s carbon zero and organic.

‘We are, in fact, waiting on our organic status from The Irish Organic Association. Because of this very gentle processing system, our salt retains higher levels of minerals making it better for you. And it tastes better too – the taste on your lips after a swim is how I hope our salt tastes! The way we evaporate our saltwater also means that the salt crystals have a very specific shape, making our salt crunchier and an excellent texture for finishing dishes as well.’

He is a Local Enterprise Office (LEO) client and says that has been ‘a phenomenal help all the way through this project.’

‘They have been very helpful to this whole process. I was awarded a priming grant which helped financially and have had different mentoring sessions with them also,’ he said.

Billy, who recently turned 50, has plans to expand the business but it’s as much about giving back, as it is growing.

‘Our ethos is all about sustainability and local community so going forward we hope to contribute more to our local environment. We have already started a rewilding process on our farm, planting over 400 native trees, we have wild bees coming this summer, bat boxes and owl boxes in the pipeline, our first small wildflower meadow is starting to bloom and we aim to give back to the biodiversity of our local area since it has provided us with so much, we feel it’s the least we can do.

‘From a business perspective we aim to reach more homes, work with small local businesses, engage with chefs and cooks and we hope to export putting our Salt of Kinsale on the world map as a stand out organic, carbon zero, sustainably sourced natural hand harvested sea salt.’

Cork County Council’s LEO plays a pivotal role in supporting the growth of West Cork’s thriving artisan food sector, providing a comprehensive range of tailored supports for producers at every stage of development.

At the earliest stage, prospective food entrepreneurs can access initiatives such as the Food Starter Programme and the Digital School of Food, which provide practical guidance on product development, market research, food safety, branding and routes to market.

These programmes are designed to help turn viable food ideas into commercial products, supporting a steady pipeline of new West Cork producers entering the market each year.

As businesses develop, more targeted supports come into play. The Food Academy Programme, delivered in partnership with Bord Bia and SuperValu, offers structured training in areas such as marketing, finance and sustainability, while also providing the opportunity to trial products in retail stores and gain valuable consumer feedback. This pathway has proven particularly beneficial for West Cork producers seeking to bridge the gap between small-scale production and wider retail distribution

Alongside these sector-specific programmes, LEO Cork North & West also provides one-to-one mentoring, management training and financial supports, including feasibility, priming and business expansion grants, enabling producers to invest in equipment, develop packaging and scale production.

These supports have been instrumental for a diverse range of West Cork businesses, from artisan cheese and seafood producers to speciality preserves and baked goods. For example, several local producers have progressed from early-stage development through LEO supports to securing retail listings and growing recognised regional brands, demonstrating the strength of the support ecosystem in the region.

Speaking to The Southern Star, Cork County Mayor Cllr Mary Linehan Foley, said: ‘Cork County has a long-standing reputation for exceptional food, built on quality ingredients, creativity and a strong sense of place.

‘The role of the LEOs is to support producers at every stage of that journey – from initial concept through to retail and export. By combining practical training, mentoring and financial supports, the LEOs can help local businesses grow while retaining the authenticity that makes Cork food products so distinctive.’

Cork County Council’s LEO Cork North & West plays a strong role each year in assisting businesses, and in 2025, some €1.2m was approved in grant funding, creating 111 new jobs.

There were 1,445 participants in 129 training programmes, 1008 participants availed of free business mentoring, there were 95 Green LEAN & Digital approvals and 28 Schools with 1255 students participated in the TY Mini Company programme.

Through this combination of practical supports and strong local engagement, LEO Cork North & West continues to play a central role in ensuring that West Cork remains one of Ireland’s leading regions for artisan food innovation and entrepreneurship.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.

Producing award-winning salt is something that cannot be rushed

CRYSTALS of salt that were on a piece of machinery in his son’s shellfish facility in Castletownbere got Bernie O’Neill thinking.

‘He was convinced there was some business potential in it, to make our own salt,’ recalls his daughter in law  Aileen. ‘We weren’t too sure initially, this was in the early 2000s, but the idea stayed with us and we said we’d give it a go.’

Michael, an experienced fisherman and expert in the seafood industry, and his wife Aileen did more than ‘give it a go.’ After trial and error, they produced their first batch of Irish Atlantic Sea Salt in 2009 and have never looked back.

‘In 2013 we converted an old farm building into a food grade, purpose built facility,’ said Aileen. ‘We were working with the Local Enterprise Board and that was a real turning point for the business, we engaged with distributors and have established nationwide distribution across retail, wholesale, and food service channels, while also building a substantial business-to-business customer supply network.’

Aileen is very involved in the day-to-day production of their award-winning salt: making a batch can take anything from a week to 10 days as it goes through a process which can’t be rushed.

Aileen O’Neill of Castletownbere-based Irish Atlantic Sea Salt.

The first step is the evaporation of the Grade A sea water from the Atlantic which is literally on their doorstep, then it’s the crystalising, removing the salt crystals, drying and finally packaging.

‘We’re a fully certified organic product which helps to set us apart,’ said Aileen. ‘And because of our bespoke low temperature process, our salt retains all the minerals and nutrients, which also creates a unique and distinctive flavour.’

‘Sadly, Bernie wasn’t there to share our excitement, he passed away in December 2010 but his legacy lives on in what we do here every day,’ said Aileen.

In addition to the Irish Atlantic Sea Salt, Michael runs a Beara-based business called Pure Ocean Algae, where he grows the edible seaweed, dulse. Dulse is a highly prized red seaweed used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food/vegetable protein sectors.

With support from Enterprise Ireland and BIM, he has worked with scientists at the University of Limerick to test the effectiveness of dulse in managing type 2 diabetes, and this led to successful human trials in 2023.

His company has just launched a range of nutritional supplements for the Irish, UK and European markets using Dulse as the primary functional ingredient.

Inspired by their grandfather

A CLONAKILTY brother and sister were inspired by their grandfather who exported fresh lobsters from West Cork, to launch their own business.

Jen and Geoff Wycherley are the duo behind West Cork Sea Salt, which launched in 2025.

Geoff and Jen Wycherley of West Cork Sea Salt.

‘It was Christmas 2024, we were eating Christmas dinner with our mum and dad, Karl and Mary, and I remember we were using table salt,’ said Jen. ‘After a long discussion on how it was made we looked out of the window at the sea and  wondered if it was something we could make, but do it better. So that January the experiment began and after a lot of trial and error we had our first batch of West Cork Sea Salt in April 2025.’

Their grandfather, Brawny Wycherley, exported fresh lobsters before turning to music and setting up the Clonakilty brass band.

‘We would have heard a lot about Brawny growing up, and that instilled in us the thought to start something of our own by also utilising the sea around us,’ said Geoff.

They partner with local fishermen to collect sea water.  ‘The process starts by identifying where we are going to collect our sea water off and researching up to date data available. This eliminates the possibility of run off contamination being present. Once collected the water is transferred to our production facility in Ring village where it undergoes a full filtration process to remove any traces of seaweed and sand. Next it undergoes specialist heat treatments. We constantly monitor this process until the sea water is at a specific salinity level,’ said Jen.  The crystals are then hand harvested, gathered and sent to the drying room, and then packaged into pouches, tins and sliders and labelled.

Geoff, whose background is in engineering and environmental health and safety industry, looks after the logistics and deliveries. ‘We deliver to multiple cafes around the West Cork area where our products are on sale, such as The Fish Basket in Long Strand, Wazzy Woo in Clonakilty, The Collector and OHK cafe in Kinsale to name a few. We also have an honesty stall located in Ring village.’ The duo feel their USP is that the product is ‘as  fresh as you can get.’

‘Also, it’s not refined in anyway so it still retains all the natural trace minerals. We have been told that our salt gives more of a sweet /citrus taste and is ideal for a finishing salt,’ said Jen whose background is in the tech consulting sector.