Carbery Group Boosted by Strong Ingredients Performance

For the year ended 31st December 2009, Carbery Group has reported EBITA of €6.2m (2008; €2.4m) on turnover of €183.8m (2008; €204m). Pre-tax profits were €2.7m (2008: - €0.8m)

19 Apr 2010 --- Carbery’s ingredients division, which includes its Dairy Ingredients business and Synergy, its flavour operations, reported strong earnings in 2009. The Dairy Ingredients business performed robustly in sectors such as infant nutrition and performance nutrition across key geographical markets. Synergy performed strongly in established markets in the EU and US but also in new markets in South East Asia and South America. Carbery Group continued its investment in new product development and major research projects throughout the year.

For the year ended 31st December 2009, Carbery Group has reported EBITA  of €6.2m (2008; €2.4m) on turnover of €183.8m (2008; €204m). Pre-tax profits were €2.7m (2008: - €0.8m)

Dan MacSweeney, CEO of the Carbery Group, said that the company’s profitability growth was driven by the Ingredients division: “Carbery Group is now a strong and diversified food business with a large international focus. This strategy, pursued over the last ten years, has reduced our dependence on the volatile dairy market. The strength of our ingredients business stems from a diverse, high quality product range that meets multiple manufacturing and consumer needs, which are allied to our continued focus on R&D and innovation. We expect to see further top-line and margin growth over the next five years.”

New product development and expansion into new markets have been key to Carbery’s overall strategic plan. The company’s ingredient portfolio includes whey protein based ingredients, final formulations for performance nutrition and innovative flavour solutions. Performing well in established markets, these ingredients are now seeing success in new regions such as Eastern Europe, Russia, South America and Asia.

Understanding tomorrow’s consumer and working with customers to deliver on new opportunities is a major part of Carbery’s strategic plan.   Marketing teams research emerging trends such as ageing population, changing lifestyles as well as understanding how market dynamics and sectors are evolving globally.

In 2009, Carbery along with some of Ireland’s other leading dairy companies joined forces with academic and government research organisations to create Food for Health Ireland. FHI works on two main research platforms: firstly to deconstruct milk into a pipeline of components, and secondly to test the bioactivity of these components in terms of health benefits and accelerate commercialisation to satisfy identified consumer needs.

Carbery also continued its investment into sensory and flavour research at North Carolina State University (NSCU). The results of this research will prove invaluable in producing the cleanest-tasting whey protein solutions as well as providing a unique toolkit for Synergy in flavour engineering.