How Stephen Plenderleith Built Tacoman Ireland

When the pandemic brought the recruitment industry to a halt, Stephen Plenderleith decided to take a risk that would change his career path. Combining his background in culinary arts and business, he launched Tacoman Ireland from a single food trailer during lockdown.

Six years on, the business has grown into a thriving catering and street food operation known for its authentic tacos, Tex-Mex flavours, and strong reputation across corporate and private events.

Plenderleith shares the story behind Tacoman’s growth, the challenges facing the food industry, and why great tacos are winning over Irish customers.

Could you start by telling us about your professional background and what led you to your role at Tacoman Ireland?

I’m a Culinary Arts graduate from DIT. I got into it simply because I loved cooking. It was always a passion of mine. Alongside that, I also studied Business Studies at DBS, so I have both a business and culinary background.

Tacoman started during lockdown. Before that, I was working in recruitment with CPL, focusing on sales roles. When lockdown came along, recruitment slowed down dramatically and everything was put on hold.

Just before that happened, I had bought a food trailer. Originally, the idea was to run it as a weekend side project while still working in recruitment. But when lockdown hit, I had a choice: either sit back like everyone else and wait things out, or go all-in and make something happen. I decided to give it a real shot.

At the beginning, it was just myself and my partner, Stephanie Sheppard, grafting away and building it up from scratch. That’s really how Tacoman got started.

Did you notice a particular demand in the Irish market at that time for tacos?

When we were doing our market research, we noticed a gap for Mexican food. There were plenty of other types of food available, but if we wanted to enter the market, we needed to offer something that stood out.

The burger and pizza markets were already very saturated. Mexican food, on the other hand, felt like an opportunity. We both love cooking and eating Mexican food, and at the time it was actually very difficult to find good tacos in Ireland.

Most Mexican restaurants were focusing heavily on burritos, and tacos often felt like a secondary product on the menu. We thought there was an opportunity to focus on tacos and really do them properly.

How would you describe Tacoman Ireland and its core offering?

We try to make our food as authentic as possible while still having a bit of an Irish flair.

We use Irish ingredients where we can to recreate Mexican flavours, but we also import key ingredients like dried Mexican chillies to maintain authenticity.

For example, our tortillas come from an Irish company called Blanco Niño. They’re an Irish product but they’re phenomenal – genuinely some of the best tortillas on the market.

So overall, we aim to stay as authentic as possible while also embracing a bit of Tex-Mex influence. That flexibility allows us to follow trends and adapt to what customers want.

Are there any recent or upcoming product launches that you’re excited about?

We tend to follow the market and see what customers are enjoying. Recently, we’ve been adding more Tex-Mex-style options like corn ribs and loaded nachos.

These work particularly well for private catering events because they’re great add-ons and people love sharing them.

We’re lucky that we also have a number of Mexican staff working with us who help with product testing. They’re brilliant for giving feedback and making sure we’re staying true to the flavours.

What challenges has the company faced in recent years, and how have you addressed them?

The biggest challenge has been the increase in costs across the board.

When we started, we could buy beef for around €7.50 per kilo. That price has basically doubled in recent years. And that’s just one example, almost every ingredient has increased in price.

Even basic items like fruit and vegetables have gone up. A box of tomatoes that used to cost around €12 can now go up to €15 depending on the time of year.

Because of that, you really have to operate smarter. There’s no room for waste or overspending. Everything needs to be tightly controlled, which makes it harder to make a margin than it used to be.

How important is the catering sector for Tacoman?

Catering is really the bread and butter of the business. At the moment, around 70–80% of our work comes from catering, with the remaining 20–30% coming from markets.

One of the markets we currently work at is the Mountain View Market in Kilkenny, which is an award-winning venue. It’s probably one of the best markets in Ireland because it’s not just about the food, the whole atmosphere and experience is fantastic.

The big advantage of catering is predictability. If a client tells you there are going to be 100 people, you can prepare exactly for that number.

Markets are more uncertain. You might have 60 customers or you might have 200. You have to balance having enough stock without ending up with too much waste. Ideally, you’d rather sell out than bring a lot of stock home.

Because we’ve been operating for about six years now, we’ve built up a strong reputation and we get a lot of repeat business. A lot of our catering work comes from multinational companies. We regularly cater staff appreciation days, summer parties, and corporate events.

We also do weddings, particularly ‘Day Two’ wedding events, as well as private parties and at-home celebrations.

The great thing about these events is that you can work directly with the client to create a bespoke menu. You know how many guests are attending and you can plan ahead for dietary requirements or allergens, which makes things much easier to manage.

Have customer perceptions changed around tacos?

Tacos are a really enjoyable food, especially in the summer. People love having a taco with a beer at a party or outdoor event.

At larger events where there are multiple food vendors, we often find people come to us first. If they’re unsure what they want to eat, they’ll grab a taco while they decide what else to try.

One thing we do try to educate people about is spice levels. A lot of people assume Mexican food is automatically very spicy.

It can be spicy, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s all about how you use the chillies. We usually keep our food at what we’d call an ‘Irish medium’ level of spice rather than something that would blow your head off.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I’m also really into gardening. I’m lucky enough to have a nice garden, so I’m always working away at it.

Living in Wexford, we also have some of the best beaches in Ireland. I like to call it the ‘Sunny South East Wexico!’ So I spend a good bit of time down at the beach as well.