Highbank Orchards

Highbank Orchards is a family-run organic farm, orchard and distillery in Co. Kilkenny, growing apples on the same fertile limestone soils since 1969.

Highbank came to us wanting their website to do more than just look the part, they needed it to actually turn browsers into visitors. Between the farm shop, gift vouchers, and a growing calendar of guided walks and tastings, they had two very different kinds of 'sale' happening: someone buying a bottle of apple brandy online, and someone booking a spot on the Red Gate Orchard Walk for next Saturday. Getting both of those journeys to feel effortless, on the same site, was the real challenge.

Group of people gathered under a large tree in a park, participating in a tasting tour event — Highbank Orchards Taste and Tour

A wooden chair and table set for two in a blooming spring orchard, with wine and glasses — Blossom Time at Highbank Orchards

We built the shop side on Craft CMS with Craft Commerce, giving Highbank an easy way to manage products, seasonal offers and gift vouchers themselves without ever having to call us. For the tours, the self-guided orchard and wellness walks, the taste-and-tour experiences, the group and corporate bookings, we connected the site to FareHarbor, so visitors can check availability and book a place without leaving the website.

Accessibility Audit

Alongside the shop and booking work, we also upgraded the site's design, speed and accessibility as part of Fáilte Ireland's Digital that Delivers programme, achieving WCAG 2.2 AA compliance, because a beautifully organic farm shouldn't have a website that shuts anyone out.

Because bookings and purchases happen across two systems, we made sure their GA4 analytics told one coherent story rather than two separate ones, tracking shop and tour revenue together so Highbank can see, at a glance, where their bookings are actually coming from.

Expansive Apple Orchard in full bloom with white blossoms and green tree line in distance

Rod from Highbank Orchards in hat and vest leaning on red gate in Orchard setting

Woven picnic basket with bowls of food and Orchard Syrup drizzle on grass beside red apples and a red farm gate

Julie and Rod posing by red decorative gates in a lush garden setting with trees and tall grasses

Basket of red and yellow apples beneath an apple tree with a white hat resting on the grass

It's been a long-term ongoing partnership, and one we're genuinely fond of, its a nice thing spending your working day thinking through the details of a site that's ultimately about good food, good drink, sustainable living and getting outdoors.

What a Website! Thank you. Pixelated brought us forward into the marketplace using a unique, imaginative style of design whilst keeping their eye on the customers needs. Pixelated's attention to detail and photographic experience enhanced the look of the whole website. The results speak for themselves.

Julie Calder-Potts, Highbank Organic Orchards

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