Kilkenny wins 'butter All-Ireland'
Agriculture and Food Minister Joe Walsh, a Cork man, travelled to Glanbia's butter plant at Ballyragget, the largest single site dairy production facility in Europe, to present the group with the National Dairy Council award.
It was a prestigious success for the Avonmore brand of butter products, Glanbia Consumer Foods and the production team involved on what is the 75th anniversary of the Read Cup.
The cup was put up for competition among co-operatives in 1929 by Alfred Read, who was then chairman of the B&I Line. Butter exports were an important cargo for the shipper at the time.
Although the number of competitors has fallen drastically with the reduction in the number of dairy co-ops over the last 30 years, competition for the cup is still keen as practically all the butter manufacturers in the country still take part.
