‘Ours is the first milk vending machine of its kind in the country’ - This Cork couple don’t own a farm but are changing the milk scene
They wanted to sell milk from their Jersey herd direct to the customer. The problem was, they don’t own a farm to build a micro-dairy on. So they hit on an innovative solution
Sally Kearney who sells milk via a vending machine called Bó Bainne Úr in Clonakilty. Photos: Denis Boyle
Michael Cahalane began milking his neighbour’s cows at the age of 12, and his passion for producing good-quality milk led to him and his wife Sally Kearney setting up Ireland’s first milk vending truck — a machine that functions as an individual modular unit.
“I grew up in a farming family but we weren’t farming ourselves anymore and we didn’t have any land,” says Michael, Bó Bainne Úr in Co Cork. “My dad passed away when I was quite young, so as I grew older, I rented farms around Clonakilty for nearly 25 years.”
