Leinster Rugby has this morning announced a new three-year partnership with MINT Catering who have come on board as the Official Refuel Partner for Leinster Rugby.

MINT was established in 2020 by Michael Hearty and David Rowan and run retail café outlets and food trucks under the name MINT Coffee, as well as catering for elite teams and athletes under MINT Catering.

Working out of their kitchen in Blackrock, MINT employ 28 staff across their retail and catering business and have been working with Leinster Rugby at their UCD base since the start of the season.

Éamon de Búrca, Sponsorship Manager with Leinster Rugby said, “We have been working very closely with Mick, David, Emma and all the team in MINT over the last six months or so to deliver a best in class offering for our players and we feel we have that now with a great facility and brilliant, nutritious food for the players.

“Credit must go to Eoghan Hickey and Sophie Conroy, our nutritionists, for their help in getting this deal over the line which will benefit all the players based in UCD but also down in Energia Park as MINT becomes our official supplier.

Garry Ringrose, Mick Hearty of MINT, Jamison Gibson-Park, Leinster Rugby sponsorship manager Eamon De Búrca, Josh van der Flier and David Rowan of MINT during a MINT and Leinster Rugby Partnership announcement at Leinster HQ in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

“We look forward to working with them over the next few years and developing the relationship further.”

As part of the partnership, MINT, with the help of Notions Creative and RESCOM, delivered a refurbished players’ café during the recent international window with a new kitchen and dining facility included.

That facility is now open and being used by the Leinster Rugby players based in UCD.

Looking back over the past few months, MINT co-owner Mick Hearty acknowledged the foundation work behind the partnership and the cooperation to this point.

“It’s with great pride that MINT enters this partnership with Leinster Rugby.

“It’s been great working closely with Lead Nutritionist Eoghan Hickey over the last while and we have worked hard to create and deliver nutritious and tasty meals for the players’ refuel programme.

“It has also been great to bring our own stamp to proceedings and to help create a new, vibrant and most importantly, an enjoyable facility for the players and the staff to enjoy in UCD.

“With the help of Edwin Jebb in Notions Creative and Dave Norton of RESCOM, it was brilliant to create the new players’ café, where the players gather to eat and spend time together, and that is complete with all the tools to deliver a world class nutritional plan each week.”

The Leinster Rugby Lead Performance Nutritionist, Eoghan Hickey, welcomed the partnership adding, “Since our collaboration started in July 2022, MINT have worked diligently with Sophie and I to deliver performance-focused food provision and menus for our Senior and Academy teams in UCD, with a big emphasis on quality in terms of taste and variety of dishes on offer.

“The collaboration to refurbish our players’ café area to make it a more fit-for-purpose space has been a real plus and already we are seeing the benefits as it supports better performance nutrition application for players during a typical training week.

“And it’s not just about the food, it’s about the space that they have created for the players to spend time together away from the pitch and the gym, where they can enjoy each other’s company. That’s been a big win already and it’s been great to see the energy the MINT team have brought in delivering on that project.”