Greencore will face the Irish government in a Dublin court next month as it tries to win millions of euros in compensation for shutting down its sugar processing business as part of European Union sugar reforms.
The firm, which processes about 200,000t/year, had decided to renounce its quota and get out of the business at an estimated cost to the firm of euro 168M.
As the country's only sugar beet processor it was expecting the lion's share of EU compensation available for Irish businesses which restructured. The Irish government allocated euro 145M for compensation in the first year and Greencore anticipated getting euro 131M of that, with the balance going to farmers and beet machinery operators further down the supply chain.
Instead, the Irish government allocated Greencore just euro 98M. Greencore is a relatively small processor by Continental standards, but it argued that the reduced compensation would undermine the closure, now completed, of its two processing plants at Carlow and Mallow.
Following a legal challenge by the company, the Irish high court gave it leave for a judicial review of the government's decision.
"We are hopeful of resolving this in a way that is appropriate to our shareholders' interests and the interests of the EU," said the company.
Meanwhile, workers' representatives at British Sugar accused the National Farmers' Union (NFU) of betrayal in the fight to keep processing factories at York and Allscott open.
GMB officer John Kirk said: "We feel betrayed as we believed the joint approach to British Sugar should have been pursued, but it's clear the NFU have had a separate agenda and they have agreed compensation for farmers."
Farmers in the north east have been offered £8/t to get out of production by British Sugar, against a sugar trade price of £23/t this season. Many growers said the offer didn't stack up, but have no choice other than to sell or trade quota to growers closer to sugar factories in other areas of the country.