The epicurean adventurer/chief gourmand behind The Dalkey Food Company is Ivan Varian.

From an early age Ivan was always fascinated by food with an upbringing of home grown and hunted produce. This ignited a passion that has lived with him since that age in how we eat and what we eat.

In 2010 his time as an Audio-visual design manager came to an end and he was presented with an opportunity to take up a professional role and attend training in Ballymaloe Cookery School. From there he worked up to Michelin starred kitchens and proceeded to work as a personal chef to Louis LeBroquey and The Duke of Devonshire. Through observation of the market he spotted a niche for a food service option of soup that tasted far superior to the current market standard at a cost-efficient level using his experience as both a chef and a business manager.

Using feedback from café managers, he tailored and has successfully established a business supplying soups to the foodservice industry, as well as office delivery. Through constant market research he has developed a series of seasonal soups to bring to the consumer.
In conjunction with this, he has co-produced, written, and co-presents alongside Jonathan McCrea, Presenter of Futureproof and Newstalk science editor, Gulp-The Science of Food and Cooking. The stage show is a 9 course bonanza of the weird and wonderful aspects of where the fields of science intersects with how we cook, eat, and taste our food. The boys have performed this show at The Festival of Curiosity, Donegal Festival of food, Northern Ireland Science Festival, and Electric Picnic where they will be returning to perform in The Theatre of Food in the Mindfield Area in September 2018 for their fourth year.
As a graduate of the Musgraves food academy, SuperValu has been great in aiding the business to grow into a completely new sector. By providing the company with insight, mentorship, and practical knowledge of the retail sector through an intensive course, The Dalkey Food Company has been able to grow its current market base, expand to larger production kitchens, hire highly-skilled staff, and purchase more from local growers and producers, and thus strengthen their slow food ethos.