Wicklow-based food company The Happy Pear has opened a new café in Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport.
The new outlet which is Dublin Airport’s first plant based restaurant employs 20 people and is located after security screening in Terminal 1. Happy Pear founders Stephen and David Flynn were at Dublin Airport this morning to open the new outlet, which is the group’s fourth café, and to serve some of its first customers.
The Happy Pear was founded by twins Stephen and David Flynn, who have built their business on the ideals of health, happiness and community.
The new eye-catching Dublin Airport outlet is being opened in association with global food service group HMSHost International. The grab and go offering features a wide range of healthy food, with both hot and cold breakfast, lunch and dinner options available.
“The Happy Pear is an energising and uplifting brand and I am delighted to welcome its new outlet to Terminal 1,” said Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison. “This new grab and go café is a fantastic addition to the food offering in Terminal 1 and I have no doubt that its healthy menu offering will be very popular with passengers,” he added.
“We strongly support The Happy Pear’s sustainable ethos, and this is something that we are developing with all of our food and beverage operators at Dublin Airport,” according to Mr Harrison.
The new Happy Pear outlet at the airport features hand-roasted coffee, delicious healthy cakes, a selection of vegan and vegetarian offerings, and signature sandwiches, salads, soups and hot food bowls. The menu also includes The Happy Pear’s award-winning pesto and hummus products.
The Happy Pear, which was founded in Greystones, Co Wicklow in 2004 and now employs 120 people, currently comprises three cafes, a farm, a branded product range, a coffee roastery, and a range of online courses for happier, healthier living.
“We’re particularly pleased to open Dublin Airport’s first plant based café,” said The Happy Pear Co-founders, David and Stephen Flynn. “We’re thrilled that our healthy food ideas are among some amazing Irish brands at the airport and we’d like to give a massive thanks to Dublin Airport and HMSHost International for the opportunity to partner on our fourth café,” the brothers added.
“More and more people are seeking healthier food options and our new Dublin Airport café is an amazing opportunity to offer that option for people while they are on the move. Our entire product range is made from natural ingredients with no artificial preservatives, colours or flavourings and this is something that we are very proud of.”
Walter Seib, Chief Executive of HMSHost International, said the company was delighted to partner with The Happy Pear to open the first plant based café at Dublin Airport. “Alongside our global brands, we pride ourselves on successfully interpreting local high street brands into high traffic locations of airports. Extending a sense of place with an emphasis on sustainability is laying a framework for a positive experience for our guests, and we are confident that The Happy Pear will be a vibrant, and healthy addition to Dublin Airport.”
The new Happy Pear outlet at Dublin Airport will use fully compostable take-away food containers, cups, cutlery and straws. Customers will also be rewarded through incentives such as a 20% discount on hot drinks if they use a reusable cup.
The Happy Pear cafés also donate any surplus food to local charities through the food redistribution charity, FoodCloud and coffee grinds are used by local gardeners. Happy Pear’s vans run on compressed natural gas, helping to reduce vehicle CO² emissions by more than 20% and it has also installed LED light fittings across its production facilities and at its head office.
Dublin Airport supports 117,300 jobs in the Irish economy, including 19,200 people employed directly at the airport and its environs. The economic activity underpinned by Dublin Airport in terms of the spin-off benefits through trade, tourism, and jobs, is worth €8.3 billion to the Irish economy annually.
More than 19 million passengers have travelled through Dublin Airport in the seven months to the end of July, which is a 6% increase on the same period last year. The airport has flights to almost 200 destinations in 43 countries, operated by 53 airlines and is the 11th busiest airport in the European Union.
Image above: Ready to serve their first customers at the newly opened Happy Pear café at Dublin Airport is (LtoR): Laura Martin, Stephen Flynn, Evie O'Connor, David Flynn and Niamh Connolly.
