Rí Na Mara - Irish Seaweed Cosmetics

Prize-winning seaweed products showcased

SLIGO played host to Connacht’s top marketing champion recently when the Ri na Mara products were showcased in town.
The Irish seaweed-based cosmetic company hosted a showcase of their growing popular product at Nicholson’s Pharmacy on Stephen Street.
Ri na Mara won the top marketing prize in Connacht at the All Ireland Marketing Awards recently at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin.
Present at the Sligo product showcase was Ri na Mara director Deirdre UÍ Chathmhaoil. She was in Sligo to answer questions on the products and to demonstrate their growing place alongside other cosmetic favourites. But the difference with this one is that it is a much healthier option. Deirdre spoke of winning the award: “The company are delighted to win such a prestigious National Award against stiff competition from all the major brands.”
Rí na Mara is based in An Spidéal, County Galway and was founded in 2004. Its products are available around the country.
The company has launched six luxury marine-based cosmetic products. It is now breaking into the US market with its distinctive product range. Their facial moisturiser is now the most popular Irish produced product nationwide.
Find out more about the range on www.rinamara.com

http://archives.tcm.ie/sligoweekender/2007/07/03/story33115.asp

INTERVIEW WITH DEIRDRE Uí CHATHMHAOIL: RÍ NA MARA

Working with the Treasure of the Sea

It’s used to make glass, sweets, jelly, beer and medicine. The monks of St Columbus ate it, and in the 9th century it was routinely offered as a gift to visitors.

The 6,000 varieties of seaweed around Ireland’s western shores are home to an entire eco-system that supports all forms of marine life, and offers us a mineral and vitamin rich product that’s good enough to eat or even bathe in.

Seaweed may not feature in everyone’s daily diet, but for many, it’s manna from heaven. Bakers around Ireland incorporate seaweed into bread and scones, and it often features in salads, desserts and teas.

Deirdre Uí Chathmhaoil quickly cottoned on to the life-enhancing benefits of seaweed during the years of research and development that eventually led to the formation of Rí na Mara Irish Seaweed Cosmetics in An Spidéal.

Seaweed has the lot. Vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K, Amino Acids, and a rich collection of minerals, such as calcium, iron, iodine and phosphorus – so it has to make us look and feel better.

“At Rí na Mara we use five seaweed varieties in our products: Laminaria Digitata, Chondrus Crispus, Fucus Serratus, Fucus Vesicolosus, and Ascophyllum Nodosum, but these would be better known as dillisk, carrageen or bladder wrack. Many of us would have tasted these as children and you can often still buy these from fish shops or at markets and Health Stores. Fucus Serratus has been used for hundreds of years in seaweed baths – the Irish equivalent of spas - but we’re the first company to extract this species and add it to our seaweed bath gel to combat muscle fatigue and to de-tox,” explains Deirdre. “The seaweed and aloe vera content in our body lotion also makes it a natural anti-cellulite and an effective after-sun treatment.”

Rí na Mara’s bath gel is just one of the company’s six products that all boast a high concentration of seaweed, as well as a number of herbal infusions. There may be no substitute to ingesting seaweed, but the skin, being the body’s largest organ, easily absorbs the extracts found in Rí na Mara products.

“What’s unique about our body cream, body lotion, bath gel, shower gel, face cream and face mask, is that they contain up to 7% seaweed, compared to only 1% in some alternatives. We also use complementary ingredients like ginkgo biloba and aloe vera to produce a high quality Irish product that can compete favourably with any international brand. All Rí na Mara products are pH balanced, are not tested on animals and are free of animal and mineral oil derivatives. Even the packing is bio-degradable, so we’re trying very hard to ensure that our products are environmentally friendly.”

Reared in Coalisland Co. Tyrone, where her parents owned a grocery shop and a clothes boutique, Deirdre was inducted from an early age into the principles of good customer service. Moving to London in 1988 she worked in the Dermatology Unit of St Thomas Hospital as a Staff Nurse, during which she developed her great interest in skin care. This interest led her to further study Cosmetic Science at De Montfort University, Leicester, which helped greatly in understanding the nature of skin care. Researching the feasibility of a seaweed cosmetics company took Deirdre to Italy, Spain and France in particular, where seaweed is used regularly in healthcare.

“I qualified as a Registered General Nurse, and nursed in both UCHG and Merlin Park. I also trained in Psychiatry, but my first love was in dermatology. I saw at first hand how seaweed was so highly respected on the continent, and was determined to make the best use of Ireland’s top quality sea treasure. I believe that the waters around our shores are purer than those around the Mediterranean, and this is reflected in the quality of our products.”

For a company that is still under four years old Rí na Mara is gaining substantial recognition. This year The Marketing Institute of Ireland voted the company the Connacht Marketing Champion, and last year the company picked up Lá Viridian Award for Innovation. On a personal note, Deirdre herself was voted The 2006 BPW Business Woman of the Year.

Rí na Mara is a family business in its most holistic sense. Deirdre’s husband Seamus is out on the road selling and distributing, and even their four children get in on the act. “Young Seamus, Brian, Padraig and Mairéad have all used our products and are great ambassadors for the company – always spreading the word!”

The company’s warehouse, laboratory and offices are located next to the family home in An Spidéal, and are also home to four full time and four part time staff. “Our staff are just as enthusiastic as we are and are very much a part of our winning formula,” explains Deirdre.

Harvesting seaweed has to be a manual process using only sustainable techniques; it is after all a precious resource.

“Most of our seaweed is harvested from around the Aran Islands, Mayo and Donegal. Workers are careful to cut only the tops of the weed, leaving the roots intact to regenerate. Large nets drag the seaweed to shore, traditional seaweed harvestors like Mairtin Concannon from Inis Mór take great care in cleaning, drying and also quality control. Traditionally, seaweed was dried out on the rocks, but for large quantities this is impractical. The dried seaweed comes back to us in An Spidéal, and we infuse it in a filtration tank of de-ionised water for several hours. This produces the seaweed extract, which a pharmacist adds to our base cream. Strict EU directives necessitate testing at various production stages and nothing is wasted – even the leftover seaweed deposits are a terrific fertiliser for our garden.”

The skin care and cosmetics world is notoriously competitive, and it’s no easy task grabbing consumer attention. RÍ na Mara is available from a large number of select pharmacies and health shops throughout Ireland, indeed outlets in Galway in particular have been very supportive. Rí na Mara are presently upgrading their website: www.rinamara.com to meet international demand, along with trade shows and promotional events to raise brand awareness. Based in the Gaeltacht and keen to promote the Irish language, the products’ packaging portrays a contemporary Celtic image, designed by Reality Design and artist Paddy Lennon, it features local girl, Emily O’Neill.

“I have ten exhibitions in Ireland lined up for the rest of this year, including the National Ploughing Championship in Tullamore, the National Craft Fair at the RDS, and RTE’s ‘Off The Rails’. I also have four visits to America on the cards as we have now began exporting to the USA, so travel is a huge part of my life now. Organisations like Enterprise Ireland, the Galway County & City Enterprise Board, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Udaras na Gaeltachta and the Irish Seaweed Organisation are essential for us in promoting the company and providing contacts.

“Last year, and this year too I am lucky enough to be included in the Spirit of Galway Tour to Milwaukee’s Irish Fest. I’m sharing a stand with Judy from Judy Greene Pottery, and really looking forward to forging new contacts.

“I’ve also just landed an exciting deal with the QVC Shopping Channel, so this will help raise brand awareness in the States.”

The company’s main focus for the immediate future is simply to extend its market and distribution base as well as its range of products. To this end, we can hope to see more products such as hand cream, eye cream, hair care and make-up come on to the market.

With four children, a full time business and extensive travel, Deirdre hasn’t a lot of free time to speak of, but she makes the most of it by hill walking in Connemara, gardening, reading and listening to music.

“I love the classics, like the works of the Brontes, but I make sure to keep abreast of business developments and current affairs too. I enjoy musicals, traditional Irish and opera – all good music actually. We still holiday in Donegal, the way I did as a child, and our own children love it.”

Other than her business, Deirdre is passionate about the Irish language and promotes it at every turn. “My daughter Mairéad has just finished her leaving certificate through Irish, and the three boys are following suit at their schools.”

In addition, Deirdre, along with Ionad Curan Leanai Teo, have secured a site in Spidéal and are building a community childcare facility, whose aim is to provide affordable, quality childcare and foster the Irish language.
Also as Business Development Officer with Galway Business and Professional Womans Association, Deirdre is currently organizing the Data Protection Officer Mr Billy Hawkes to give a talk in Chamber of Commerce on 20th September.
“I believe its important to give something back to your community, it’s full steam ahead, and of course theres always a Rí na Mara seaweed bath to relax in at the end of the evening.”