Brands Boost Irish Dairy Board Performance

The IDB said it was a satisfactory year for the board’s branded business, with Kerrygold sales up 2.8%. In Britain, sales of Kerrygold Softer Butter grew 16%.

19/04/06 The Irish Dairy Board says it has had a successful 2005 despite reductions in EU support prices and export refunds. The IDB reported that turnover was up 4.5% to €1.97 billion and the operating surplus increased 4% to €41.1m.

Success was largely attributed to the worldwide success of the Kerrygold brand and the Pilgrim’s Choice brand in Britain. The IDB said it was a satisfactory year for the board’s branded business, with Kerrygold sales up 2.8%. In Germany, Kerrygold butter maintained its market leadership despite increasing competitive pressures. In Britain, sales of Kerrygold Softer Butter grew 16%. The Pilgrims Choice cheese range finished the year as the number two cheddar brand in the market. Sales volumes of the Kerrygold brand in the US grew 20% across the range.

Managing Director Dr Noel Cawley said that Ireland's dairy industry was in no danger of going the same route as the Irish sugar industry, which recently heard the news that Greencore would exit the island, effectively ending its sugar beet production. Cawley said however that Irish farmers produce milk from the growing of grass in one of the most efficient ways in the world, and while there is always the need for improvement, the industry is safe. He says that changes in the food industry come through from evolution, rather than revolution.

Dr Cawley says that the Dairy Board's biggest sales come from butter, cheese and milk powder products but also include sales of $1 billion in the US of all food types. He says that sales are now much more market orientated and that the board is looking at expanding its present markets.