Eat Well. Feel Good. Live Better.
The Happy Pear started out back in 2004 with Steve, Dave, a tiny veg shop and a dream of helping people to eat more veg!
20 years later, The Happy Pear now consists of that same veg shop, our cafe and bakery in Greystones, over 80 delicious plant based food products (that we've sold 15 million units of!!), 15+ online courses (that over 100k people have taken!), a recipe club, 6 cookbooks (that we've sold 500k cookbooks), a 4 acre regenerative organic farm, a coffee roastery, and a social media following of nearly 2 million people!
All that said, the mission is still the same, to help you to get healthier and be happier!
We're identical twins Dave & Steve, technically we are mirror twins also, Dave is right handed and right footed and Steve left handed and left footed! Anyhow, we grew up in Greystones, Co. Wicklow the eldest of 4 boys. As identical twins we were super competitive! This meant by the time we were 19 we were playing semi professional rugby, we both played baseball for Ireland, We played off 2 & 3 handicap in golf and we did modelling as it was a good way to meet girls!! At that time we ate a standard meat and 2 veg diet and loved drinking beer with our rugby friends.
After studying business in college, in 2001, aged 21 we went travelling separately to see what else life had on offer. Steve went to Canada to be a snowboard instructor and Dave went to South Africa to become a golf professional. Within a couple of weeks we both independently became plant based and gave up alcohol and got very interested in spirituality and food. We spent the next couple of years travelling around the world delving deep into these 2 new interests from meditation centres to permaculture farms, organic biodynamic farms, alternative community, rainbow gatherings. Then in 2003 Steve called up Dave and asked him if we wanted to help start a ‘food revolution'! This was the seed of The Happy Pear.
Fast forward almost 20 years and the mission is still the same, to create a healthier, happier world and build community! Now The Happy Pear has 3 main business units that all serve the same goal of helping people to eat more veg!
You are part of a world brimming with bountiful wonder and endless possibilities.
It may feel like you are just a tiny part, but you have powers beyond your imagination- the power to change your life, the power to change your community, the power to change the world itself. With every decision you make, you can help make the world better. Together, those tiny changes can generate a massive positive impact for yourself, for those you love and for the planet.
We want to play our part and help you make one small step today. One decision for the better. Maybe it's just about what you're going to eat, or how you're going to move. Maybe it's about how you see your life and the lives of those around you. We believe in the power of people. People like you. People willing to play their part, no matter how small it is. The world needs you. Your community needs you. Your body needs you.
Hi :]
We're Dave and Steve, and we are honoured that you are here and are thrilled to share a message that's close to our hearts. When we started The Happy Pear back in 2004, we had a simple dream: to create a happier, healthier world through better food choices. Fast forward to today, and our mission is more relevant than ever. We're here to inspire you, to make a positive impact on our planet and to have fun, all through the delicious, joyful act of eating!
Building a community around these choices is at the heart of what we do. We believe in the power of community to inspire, motivate, and create lasting change. Whether it's through our cafe, supper club, cookbooks, online courses, recipe club, food products, organic farms or social media, we aim to bring people together around the shared goal of eating well and living better. We want to make healthy eating accessible, enjoyable, and fun!
Yes, fun! Because life is an adventure, and food should be a joyous part of that journey. We love nothing more than gathering friends and family, cooking up a storm, and sharing laughs over a delicious, plant based nourishing meal! This sense of joy and connection is what we hope to bring to you through The Happy Pear.
We would love to invite you to be part of our community via our recipe club, our whole health tribe or on social media. We would also love to invite you to visit us in our cafe and shop in Greystones, or maybe join us at the beach at sunrise! We're here to support you on your journey to make healthier, more sustainable plant based food choices. If we can help you make just one healthier choice today, then we've succeeded. Together, we can create a world where our food choices support nature, build community, and bring happiness to our lives.
Eat well, feel good, and live better!
With love and gratitude,
Dave & Steve
Opened "The Happy Pear" fruit and vegetable shop in Greystones, followed by opening a vegetarian café next door in 2006
Began presenting classroom-based Happy Heart courses teaching healthy eating practice to lower blood cholesterol"
Established a sprout farm growing wheatgrass and healthy micro greens in indoor grow rooms
Commenced supply of retail & foodservice outlets in Leinster
Commenced production of The Happy Pear range of Pesto - Green Basil Pesto and Red Tomato Pesto
Opened an embedded café in Shoreline, Greystones
Commenced distribution of Pesto & Sprouts through the SuperValu chain
Authored the “The Happy Pear Book” published by Penguin books which was BEST SELLING FOOD BOOK IN IRELAND 2014
Formal UK launch of the first Happy Pear book by Penguin; awarded BEST SELLING FOOD BOOK IN IRELAND for the second year running
Opened Pearville, a 14,000 sq/ft production facility. Released 2nd book “The World of The Happy Pear”. Won Ireland's “Cookbook of the Year”.
Launched an additional 9 Happy Pear branded food products (2 hummus, 3 soups, 3 bakes, 1 healthy choc spread nationwide)
Released our third book “Recipes for Happiness” by Penguin, Hosted our biggest ever Swimrise event in aid of The Dublin Simon Community.
Launched 2 new online courses, The healthy gut in partnership with Dr. Alan Desmond and The Ultimate 4 week Vegan Cooking Course
Launched our 4th book "Vegan Cooking For Everyone" and two more online courses; Happy Heart and Happy Skin
We had a record number of people through our online courses, more than 32,000 people from over 100+ countries!
Published our 6th book 'The Veg Box' in the UK and Ireland. Launched our Happy Pear membership app to support members to eat a whole food plant based diet. Created our Happy Menopause course with Gynaecologiest Dr. Nitu Bajekal and our Happy Sleep Course with Neurologist Dr. Oliver Bernath.
Sold 18.9% of The Happy Pear to our community via an equity crowdfund and raised €2.5m to launch our food products in the UK.
Reached over 2 million social media followers. Launched our food products in the UK with our granola, pestos and hummus.
We run a 4 acre organic, regenerative farm based in Kilcoole, Co Wicklow just 10 mins south of Greystones, focused on minimum till or no dig practices where we not only adhere to the current organic growing standards but also focus on improving the soil microbe health and increasing the biodiversity around the farm through planting a mix of different pollinator species.
We produce up to 40 different crops across the full year and we provide these through a number of different channels. Our central focus is on our weekly veg box scheme where you can subscribe to receive a weekly veg box of the freshest local and in season veg and can collect it from a number of different collection points in the local area or have it delivered to their door.
Check out our latest book We also provide as much organic veg to The Happy Pear kitchen and shop in Greystones as we can across the year, we provide fresh herbs to our production facility and we sell a number of crops to local stores around the wider Greystones area.
We also have a purpose built indoor farm specialising in growing the most nutrient dense foods on the planet namely living sprouts, micro greens and wheatgrass which are available across Ireland through SuperValu, Centra and through leading foodie stores such as Nolan’s of Clontarf, Fresh market, The Hopsack etc. We began this venture in 2009 and have been using certified organic seeds since the beginning and in 2018, our Bean Mix and Alfalfa sprouts have become certified organic products themselves.
Each sprout we grow has a range of different benefits. Our Organic Bean Mix is high in protein and high in fibre. Our Organic Alfalfa Sprouts are great for stabilising blood sugar levels and are packed full of digestive enzymes making them easier to digest and absorb. Our Super Sprout Mix not only tastes great but is high in protein and a great source of fibre.
These sprouts are all fantastic in any salad, sandwich or used as a garnish to top off any dish. Our wheatgrass is nature's natural multi-vitamin. Drank as a 30ml fresh juice, our wheatgrass juice is incredible for boosting your immune system.
Our goal is to create a community built around health and happiness, in an environment people find enjoyable and where they feel supported in their efforts to make change.
Our cafe in Church Road, Greystones provides solace, a place for like minds to enjoy good food and hang out, our books and online courses empower people to live happier, healthier lives wherever they are in the world and we've ongoing events to bring the community together in person!
Get involved in our community or online or join us for a swimrise! It's no secret that we have long enjoyed a morning dip for some vitamin Sea. Years ago we invited our online community to join our next Swimrise on the promise of free porridge and tea and people came in their droves to our cafe. Close to 400 people gathered on a Sunday morning at 5AM to dip their toes in the Irish Sea and is the phenomenon that is SWIMRISE was born. Keep an eye on our social media for our next big splash!
Pearville is our head office and food production home in Kilcoole, just minutes from our farms and cafe in Greystones. Pearville is always a flurry of activity with lots of exciting developments and creativity going on. The site operates to the highest standards of quality, consistently achieving BRCGS AA accreditation.
We make our world famous hummus and pestos here, we make beautiful sourdough bread and pastries in our wonderful sourdough bakery; we have a fermentation station, our product development hub and our speciality coffee roastery.
In March 2015, we began our journey into Speciality Coffee Roasting. After travelling to many countries visiting cafes, roasteries and attending lots of inspiring coffee events, we took off to Edinburgh to study Coffee Roasting with John Thompson of Coffee Nexus. Today, we roast for our café in Greystones and for the Irish market, with our retail coffee packs available in store and also for the Wholesale market.
