Yoghurt maker Glenilen Farm back in profit

One of Ireland’s largest independent yoghurt producers, the award-winning Glenilen Farm, returned to profit last year, with a surplus of €114,239.

New accounts for the Cork-based firm also show revenues grew by around 12% to €4.19m in the 12 months to the end of last February.

The company’s co-founder Alan Kingston said yesterday that “we are very happy with how business has gone over the past number of years”.

Mr Kingston said that draft figures show that the company generated revenues of €3.9m in the 10 months to the end of last December. He added that the profits enjoyed in the company’s last financial year arose partly from lower commodity prices.

“That made a huge difference to our bottom line. We view it as a temporary adjustment and prices will climb again but maybe not to the levels they were at.”

The Glenilen business started off as a hobby in 1996 for Alan and Valerie Kingston and the business is aiming to produce over two million units of yoghurt this year.

The company employs 40 people and operates a production plant at the couple’s 55-acre dairy farm near Drimoleague, Co Cork.

The firm’s other products include cheesecakes, desserts, cream cheese, lemonade cordial, butter and creme fraiche.

Mr Kingston said the company has expanded into the UK in recent years and sales there now account for 17% of revenues.

“We are still at break-even in our UK business because of the investment made there.” Mr Kingston said that the firm’s partnership with Waitrose, where Glenilen’s products are stocked in 120 shops, continues to be very important for the company.

“They are an ideal partner for us,” he said.

Underlining the confidence in the business, Glenilen is to shortly invest €500,000 in an expansion of the business premises at Drimoleague.

“We re-invest the profits back into the business,” said Mr Kingston. He said that all through the recession, the Glenilen business grew “because Irish people are very conscious about what they eat” and “are ready to pay a premium for Irish quality products.”

“It gives us great satisfaction to create employment in a very rural area and it is nice to be able to contribute to the local economy and bring jobs and the spin-off from that,” he added.

Accumulated profits at the firm increased from €265,443 to €379,682 in the year under review. The company’s cash pile increased from €284,716 to €371,562.