ACORNS alumni Aisling O’ Toole used the Covid-19 lockdown to explore her love for baking along with her daughter Catherine, who has significant additional needs.
O’Toole effectively turned a lockdown baking hobby into Taste of Home, an award-winning Irish bread business now stocked by Dunnes Stores and SuperValu.
She is a graduate of the ACORNS rural women entrepreneurship programme. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, ACORNS supports women entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland through peer learning, mentoring and round table sessions led by experienced business owners.
“I have made long-lasting friendships with other participants – ensuring we continue to provide support to each other moving forward”
The latest programme results show that the combined annual turnover of the 53 participants on ACORNS 11 increased from €4.1 million to almost €6 million during the six-month programme, generating 60 jobs. Nine entrepreneurs began trading for the first time during their participation, while four businesses became exporters.
Self-raising ‘flour’ of a business
Baking provided a way of helping Catherine engage in purposeful and meaningful activity as Aisling took a step back from her role as a Paediatric Occupational Therapist in the HSE to care for her daughter. Looking back, it opened a unique opportunity for her and her family.
After some practice, they offered friends and family some of their baked brown breads, leading to positive feedback and encouragement from her close-knit circle. Aisling then entered the National Brown Bread competition at the annual Ploughing Championships. She reached the final in 2020 but went one better a year later, winning the title and awarded the exciting opportunity to stock her bread in Aldi stores Nationwide for the next 12 months.
When this period ended, Aisling approached more retailers. A major milestone was reached early on, earning a contract with Dunnes Stores, with her bread stocked around the country under the Simply Better brand.
Her business has grown steadily since with breads available in Dunnes Stores, SuperValu and other smaller retailers. Aisling has since launched a second product, a brown bread using rescued grain from Irish Distilleries, supplied by Tullamore business BiaSol. The product is high in fibre and low in fat, making it a popular alternative to traditional breads.
“The ACORNS programme gave me the support and mentorship I needed as we discussed the challenges of running a business,” Aisling says. “I have made long-lasting friendships with other participants – ensuring we continue to provide support to each other moving forward.”
Looking forward, she plans to develop her product range – including smaller, individual sized brown bread portions for the convenience market.
Do you have what it takes to join ACORNS?
Applications have opened for ACORNS 12, the next phase of the programme for early-stage female business founders.
Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, ACORNS supports women entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland through peer learning, mentoring and round table sessions led by experienced business owners.
The latest programme results show that the combined annual turnover of the 53 participants on ACORNS 11 increased from €4.1 million to almost €6 million during the six-month programme. Nine entrepreneurs began trading for the first time during their participation, while four businesses became exporters.
ACORNS 12 will run from October 2026 to April 2027 and is open to early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland who have generated sales no earlier than the end of June 2023. Up to 50 places are available. Participation is free of charge, supported by funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the voluntary contribution of Lead Entrepreneurs from across rural Ireland.
This year’s Lead Entrepreneurs include Alison Ritchie of Polar Ice, Geraldine Jones of Skin Formulas, Karen Kerrigan of Kerrigan’s Mushrooms, Larissa Feeney of Kinore, Mary B Walsh of Ire Wel Pallets, Orla Leahy of Ireland Chauffeur Travel and Triona MacGiolla Rí of Aró Digital Strategies.
To apply, click here
Eligibility Criteria for participation on ACORNS
To be considered for ACORNS, applicants must:
- Have set up a new business which has generated sales no earlier than the end of June 2023 or be actively planning a new venture and have made good progress towards getting the new venture off the ground. Indicators of actively planning a business would include organising the start-up team, sourcing equipment / facilities, money saved for the start-up, writing the business plan, etc.
- They must own or part-own the business and be living in a rural area, that is in an area outside the administrative city boundaries of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
- If selected, applicants must be available to attend the launch Forum and first round table session on October 19 and 20, 2026.
- They must expect to become an employer within three years.
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