Dairy giant creates 30 jobs with €40m factory investment

The expanded site will be used to meet the growing demand for Kerrygold, a leading Irish butter brand owned by Ornua.

The development was opened earlier this month (October 2023) by minister for agriculture, food and the marine Charlie McConalogue TD and minister for enterprise, trade and employment Simon Coveney TD. They were joined by Enterprise Ireland executive director Jenny Melia and Ornua Co-operative chair Aidan O’Driscoll.

Kerrygold Park features two butter churns and 10 packing lines, capable of producing more than 50 different product formats available across 60 markets. The investment allows Kerrygold to increase its total cream processing capacity, enabling increased production of up to 80,000 tonnes of butter per year, equating to more than one million packs per day.

The Irish Government provided funding for the development through agency Enterprise Ireland and its capital investment scheme, which has led to the creation of 30 new jobs, taking the total workforce at Kerrygold Park to 180.

‘Journey to become Ireland’s first €2bn brand’

O’Driscoll hailed the success of Kerrygold, noting that it has become the second largest butter brand in the US. With that in mind, the Ornua chair declared that the brand remained intent on reaching more people around the world.

“We are passionate about growing the brand’s global status further and focused on safeguarding the value it returns to the Irish dairy sector through the premiumisation of Irish dairy,” ​O’Driscoll said.

“Our strategic development of Kerrygold Park is central to this ambition and will support the next phase of growth for Kerrygold on its journey to become Ireland’s first €2bn (£1.75bn) food brand.”​

Meanwhile, McConalogue described the unveiling as a “significant milestone” ​in the history of Kerrygold and the Irish dairy sector.

“​​This strategic investment, which was part financed by the Government’s Capital Investment Scheme for the Agri Food processing sector, will help to ensure Kerrygold has the world-leading processing capabilities needed to continue to grow the brand and generate value for the community of Irish dairy farming families which it represents,” ​added the minister.

In other news, Food Manufacture spoke to Welsh minister Lesley Griffiths about the support the Government provides for the food and drink industry​​.