Cuisine de France

Cuisine de France is Irish. While the brand may have a definite international flavour (pun intended!) about it, rest assured Cuisine De France is an Irish success story par excellence!

Founded by Ronan McNamee and Pat Loughrey in the late ‘80s, its original base was in Santry. Today its headquarters are in Tallaght, at Belgard Square to be precise. It may not geographically be a big move from Santry to Tallaght but in terms of its progress as a dynamic entity within the Irish economy the company has taken gargantuan strides to arrive at its present location.

“I’m ten years with the company today!” is the proud boast of Michael, a truck driver for Cuisine de France in conversation with Patrick McCusker, Transport Manager. “Some life sentences don’t last that long!” I interject. “No, its a great company ... do you know how many people were working here when I started?” he replies quick as a flash. The question isn’t rhetorical so I enquire “how many?” “Nine including myself,” says Michael. A quick telephone call to the wages department by Patrick establishes the fact there are 450 people in total presently employed by Cuisine de France which incidentally is now owned by I.A.W.S. “There you are now!” says Michael in a tone which more than hints at mock self-justification, as he exits Patrick McCusker’s office. Michael’s cameo, though, is a telling one for it begs the question what merits a company ‘great’? If the swelling of its wage roll from 9 to 450 in ten years is a barometer of a company’s greatness, then Michael is right. Cuisine de France is a great company.

Patrick McCusker started his career with Cuisine de France as a goods inward manager in 1996 and finds himself (after a process of hands-on work experience combined with the toil of evening studies) as the present encumbent of the position of Transport Manager at the Dublin depot and manufacturing facility.

“In 1990 Cuisine de France would have been known for its French bread. Today we carry a product line in excess of 350 food items of all descriptions, including bread, confectionery, desserts and savories,” says Patrick by way of outlining the company’s remarkable growth.

Part of their success has been due to the establishment of their own distribution network. Cuisine de France have depots in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Lisburn here in Ireland while across the Irish Sea, there are another four depots in London, Birmingham, Newcastle Upon Tyne and Sherbourne, all in turn servicing hundreds of retail outlets varying in size from the corner shop to the multiple chains like Dunnes Stores to name one. There is a depot in Chicago, Illinois also which is indicative of I.A.W.S. plans to bring the produce of Cuisine de France to a global market. To that end its famous brand is a registered trademark already in markets where it has yet to penetrate such as Continental Europe, Canada and Mexico.

However those lofty plans are a long way from the reality of the daily routine of the affable Fermanagh man charged with the responsibility of transport management at Cuisine de France in Tallaght. His job description on paper, like that of any transport manager, appears challenging certainly but for all that let’s be honest, on paper it looks like, dare I say it - a cushy office number! Right? Wrong of course, the devil is in the detail! Patrick McCusker’s job involves interfacing with each of the 30 drivers of articulated trucks, rigids and vans at this depot, liaising with sales representatives, telesales people, and dealing with their queries and demands, which ultimately provide the retail outlets with the highest standard of customer service. This in turn affects the end user - you and me!

On top of all that he is ultimately responsible for the tools of his trade - his truck fleet. This entails the maintenance of the same said fleet which consists of Peugeot boxers, DAF 45s, Scania 93s, Scania 94s, Mercedes 814, Mercedes 1820s and Mercedes Sprinters. In-house maintenance is responsible for minor repairs but ultimately anything of importance is shopped out to the likes of Mutel, Long Mile Road (Mercedes), Delaney Commercials or McElvaneys (Scanias). “Regular servicing ensures the efficiency of the fleet and anticipates a lot of the more expensive problems you could have,” claims McCusker, who by now has found his ‘flow’ (which makes my job the cushy number it is!). “I’m also responsible for the servicing schedule of all fridges - you can’t distribute frozen products on a vehicle that’s not up to spec in terms of adhering to the legal standards laid down,” he continues acknowledging the excellent service provided by a nearby refrigeration specialist - take a bow Ballinlough Refrigeration!

In all these tasks he is ably assisted by colleagues Mark Fisher and John Gleeson. His day begins at 8.30am and ends around 7pm and he considers himself very lucky compared to his counterpart in Cork who has to contend with dispatching the Waterford city run in the middle of the night, because of daytime parking restrictions imposed by Waterford City Council. Patrick McCusker is not even fazed by the proposal to introduce road tolls. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it pardon the pun!” As regards the labour crisis, “we tend to keep drivers. We’re fairly good in that sphere but in the present economic climate drivers can pick and choose what jobs they want to do. But in the grand scheme of things it (the labour shortage) doesn’t affect us anymore than any other industry,” he opines.

Tolls, local authorities, government policy, labour crises are all par for the course at Cuisine de France. In Patrick McCusker’s mind, the bottom line is customer satisfaction. Suddenly we’re back where we came in. “As Michael said, ten years ago there were just nine people working in Cuisine de France. Today there’s over four hundred (people), across four different countries, so thats how much the company has grown,” he says before offering this summation. “We have a range of products that the customer wants, a well known and trusted brand name - Cuisine de France. If you’ve got something that the customer wants you’re already on the road to success!” That’s a truth worth repeating - if you’ve got something that the customer wants you’re already on the road to success. As they say at Cuisine de France - ecouté et repeté!