Moate man’s superfood business grows from small shoots

What started out as a healthy hobby has turned into a business for local man Rory Doyle who, in recent months, started an operation growing and selling wheatgrass around the region. After trying the sweet green juice shot pressed from young wheat plants while on holiday in Thailand, he quickly noted the benefits of the superfood, 35ml of which is said to contain the nutritional equivalent of a kilogramme of leafy green vegetables. It prompted him to start to grow the plant on a small scale for himself at his home in Knockdomney, Moate. “I found it great, I had digestive problems and it stopped all that. I also used to get cold sores at least once a month after a hard week and I haven’t had them in two years,” Rory, a keen surfer said. Wheatgrass also provides an energy boost, something he feels could of huge benefit to athletes or local sports teams looking for an edge. It’s advised to drink it on an empty stomach as the wheatgrass, packed with vitamins, minerals and enzymes, is rapidly ingested into the bloodstream. Along the way he has converted friends and family or his “guinea pigs” as Rory’s mother Teresa says. She credits her daily shot of wheatgrass with lowering her cholesterol, while others have told him it keeps them more alert, bolsters the immune system, and is even great for countering the ill-effects of a hangover! It also contains high amounts of chlorophyll and anti-cancer agents, in fact, wheatgrass and living foods guru Dr Ann Wigmore claims it actually cured her of the illness. After being let go from his job as an environmental consultant in Ennis back in January 2009, necessity forced Rory to investigate whether his hobby could become something more, and after noticing a gap in the local market, he formed Greenergy Foods six months ago. Now, every week he sows the organic wheat seeds using organic compost before adding in Atlantic seaweed for extra health benefits, and then waits for the seeds to sprout and shoot up into the distinctive grass before harvesting and packaging for sale. “Once you water it every day and talk to it, wheatgrass grows away,” he jokes as he surveys the trays of seeds and plants in a tunnel at the back of his home. “It could actually grow an inch a day,” he explained, but generally it takes between three and six weeks to grow to the necessary length depending on the time of year. “It’s selling itself through word of mouth at the moment,” Rory told the Westmeath Independent. Converts to juicing wheatgrass call to his house to buy a bag costing €10, enough to make a week’s supply of wheatgrass shots. He also posts it out it to other customers weekly. For the record, having tried my first shot of wheatgrass, it was nicer than I expected, reminding me of a kind of herby taste, a bit like a stronger parsley with a sweet flavouring. Greenergy Foods also sells the juicers needed and supplies fresh wheatgrass to a number of local outlets including Athlone Regional Sports Centre, Au Naturel, Athlone, Natural Stuff, Tullamore and Nuts and Grains in Mullingar. Already very popular in places like the US and Australia, Rory Doyle is hopeful that an increasingly health conscious Irish public will feel the benefits of wheatgrass and it will become more popular in the years ahead. “I’m hoping to get it into other shops, juice bars, and do a stall in the future,” the Knockdomney native said of his future plans. He added that his next pressing task is to get a new shed built, a temperature controlled facility which will allow him to grow a crop of the superfood in just ten days. He is also investigating growing other health foods for sale as his business growing, things like speltgrass, oatgrass or developing a frozen wheatgrass product and sprouting seeds like mung beans. To find out more about wheatgrass or for further information about Greenergy Foods call Rory 086 8102143.