Colin Jephson

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In The Irish Food Guide we wrote that “In a perfect retailing world, every supermarket would be like Ardkeen.”
That's a measure of the respect that we have for Colin Jephson's trail-blazing super store, and what we admire so much is their ability to offer the atmosphere and specialisation of a traiteur, and yet to be able to up-scale this approach to the size of a supermarket. It is exceptionally difficult to achieve this, yet Mr Jephson and his team have done it.
How did he do it? Now, that's the thing. Start with the name: Ardkeen Quality Food Store. It's right there: this is not a supermarket, it is a food store packed with quality food. Supermarkets will sell anything – good, bad or blandly indifferent – so long as it sells. Mr Jephson will not sell anything that he doesn't believe in, he won't sell anything that isn't the best it can be, and he believes in the people who make the foods that fill his shelves. In truth, we might augment Mr Jephson's title, for it should read Ardkeen Community Quality Food Store. Mr Jephson offers to his Community of Customers a Community of Artisans, people who do their best to make the best things they possibly can.
It's worth re-telling a personal story about Ardkeen and our experience there. One Saturday morning we spent a decent amount of time and money buying delicious things in Ardkeen. Looking at our receipt later, we realised that virtually all of the money was spent on produce from the counties of Waterford and Cork. Not only had we had a wonderful experience – the staff here are simply the best – but we had also shopped in a way that solved the very issues that bedevil the global industrial food complex. Mr Jephson had let us contribute to local economies, to local businesses, whilst saving food miles. Shopping in Ardkeen had made us virtuous.
So, shop at Colin Jephson's Ardkeen Quality Food Store, and save the world.

Ardkeen, Dunmore Road, County Waterford
+ 353 51 874 620
www.ardkeen.com