Two years of preparatory work reaches maturity as Jarlsberg makes Mogeely the big cheese at new €5.5m facility
The cheese, which is being made under contract for Norwegian company Tine, must mature for three months before it’s ready for supply to the Continent.
According to Mogeely plant manager Christy O’Sullivan, the Swiss-type Jarlsberg is the leading imported cheese in the US and is also very popular on the continent.
Norway’s Tine Dairies decided two years ago to get its cheese manufactured within the EU by way of joint venture or contract. In mid-2003 it reached an agreement with Dairygold under which the co-op would make Jarlsberg on contract at its Mogeely factory. Dairygold has spent over €5.5 million installing a new production line at the east Cork plant for the cheese.
Mr O’Sullivan said production of the cheese in 2006 is pencilled in at 1,500 tonnes. It is hoped that over the following five to six years that will rise to 6,000 tonnes per annum. The line has the capacity to produce 7,000 tonnes.
Tine looked at a large number of cheese manufacturers before selecting Dairygold because of its experience in innovation with new cheeses and its supply of top quality milk.
Meanwhile, Dairygold has disclosed that it bought the same quantity of Irish pig meat from Irish slaughter plants in the year ending August 2005 than it had bought direct from local producers the previous year. It said this was in keeping with a commitment it made in October 2004, following the cessation of its unprofitable pig slaughtering operations in Mitchelstown.
Confirmation that Dairygold had honoured its commitment came from an independent KPMG audit, which monitored the company’s pig meat purchases for the year following the cessation of Mitchelstown slaughter operations.
The audit was agreed between Dairygold and the IFA to reassure producers that Dairygold would remain an important buyer of Irish pig meat.
