Irish Yogurts enjoys culture of success

An award-winning yoghurt maker in West Cork will make “strong profits” this year after going into the red last year.

Irish Yogurts Ltd in Clonakilty was set up in 1994 with two employees and now has 130.

The firm’s founder and managing director, Diarmuid O’Sullivan, said yesterday: “We will make strong profits this year and we are trading well under difficult circumstances.”

Mr O’Sullivan said the company would produce around 100m yoghurts this year.

Sales at the company are expected to increase by over 25% to €17m this year, with Mr O’Sullivan stating: “We are going from strength to strength.”

Accounts show the company recorded a €287,014 pre-tax loss in the 12 months ending Nov 30, 2011, after a pre-tax profit of €669,722 in 2010.

The loss occurred in spite of revenues rising 8.8% to €13.4m.

The business operates from two plants at Scartagh and The Miles in Clonakilty.

A spokeswoman attributed the 2011 loss to “the increased cost of doing business in Ireland and the increased cost of ingredients”. The company generates 75% of revenues in Ireland, with the remaining 25% generated in the UK.

“We will begin exporting to Europe in the coming months,” said the spokeswoman. “The numbers of people employed will increase in line with the growth of the business.”

The spokeswoman added that the company’s UK business was “going from strength to strength, while retailers here are very supportive of our business”.

The accounts show that, at the end of Nov 2011, the firm had shareholder funds totalling €6.4m that included €1.57m in accumulated profits. R&D expenditure totalled €153,561. Remuneration for the two directors, Mr O’Sullivan and Mary T Daly, totalled €239,796.

Recently, Irish Yogurts won 16 gold stars at the Great Taste Awards organised by the UK Guild of Fine Foods. The firm won the accolades for a range of products, all of which are gluten- and GM-free, from among 9,000 entries.

The company’s products under the Irish Yogurts and own-label brands are available nationwide. It also supplies Britain’s four top retail multiples — Sainsburys, Tesco, Morrisons and Asda — under the Irish Yogurts label.