Cattle disease link to Kerry Group success

BRUCELLOSIS has played a bigger role in Kerry than most other counties, shaping the course of farming, and even the course of the county’s economic life during the early 1970s.

Then, detection of brucellosis in many of the country’s herds led to a spate of depopulations as part of the eradication effort, and disastrously reduced the milk supply of Kerry Co-op by about 20%.

The silver lining to this dark cloud was the management and directors’ decision that if the firm was to grow, it had to reduce its reliance on commodity dairy products. Out of that decision was born Ireland’s most successful food company, Kerry Group - which has gone from modest beginnings to become a leading global player with annualised sales of more than €4 billion.