Second Street Bakeshop Shines at Ploughing 2026
23/09/2026
A small Cork City business, Second Street Bakeshop, got the opportunity to showcase its products to almost a quarter of a million people at last week’s National Ploughing Championships. The business was part of the Local Enterprise Offices’ Local Enterprise Village which was open to the public over the three days of the event.
Second Street Bakeshop is an award-winning Cork City confectionery business handcrafting premium American-style toffee brittles with an Irish twist. Made with ingredients including Cork butter and Achill Island seasalt, its naturally gluten-free range combines Irish provenance with contemporary snack innovation and includes new plant-based flavours. www.secondstreetbakeshop.com
Speaking of her experience at the event, Claire Keane, owner of Second Street Bakeshop said: “Taking part in the Local Enterprise Village at the National Ploughing Championships was an incredible opportunity for us. Showcasing our toffee brittles to such a massive, diverse crowd over the three days gave a major boost to our brand awareness and allowed us to connect with new customers from all over Ireland. The support from our Local Enterprise Office (LEO) in Cork City made a huge difference in helping us step onto a platform of this scale."
The Local Enterprise Village was home to 30 LEO-supported small businesses from across the country highlighting very best of Irish enterprise from clothing, craft and artisanal food to bovine genetics and woodwork machinery to the 243,000 who attended.
Dr. Niall O’Keeffe, Head of Enterprise, LEO Cork City “The Local Enterprise Village at this year’s National Ploughing Championships was a tremendous success and once again demonstrated the ambition, innovation and resilience of small businesses right across the country. For LEO Cork City’s client – Second Street Bakeshop - the Local Enterprise Village provided a unique national platform to put their products in front of hundreds of thousands of visitors, make valuable new connections and build awareness with potential customers, partners and buyers.”
This year the Local Enterprise Village included a Business Advice Hub for any budding entrepreneurs or existing businesses who were able to get advice from the Local Enterprise Offices Specialist Business Advisors. So, for anyone who had a business idea that wanted to figure out how to get it off the ground or for someone with an existing business who wanted advice on funding, sustainability or building digital and AI into their business, there were advisors on hand meeting businesses across the three days.
The Enterprise Europe Network was also in the Village for the first time, giving advice to businesses who wanted to begin looking at new markets across the EU and building relationships with international businesses.
The Local Enterprise Village will return to the National Ploughing Championships in 2027 when they move to Rathangan in Kildare from the 21-23 of September, moving a week later to accommodate the Ryder Cup.