Arrabawn Co-op wins butter award

BUTTER produced by Arrabawn Co-op in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, and sold on export markets by the Irish Dairy Board under the Kerrygold brand, has won a gold medal at the cheese and buttermaking Olympics.

Arrabawn’s salted sweet cream butter triumphed over thirty-two international entries at the world championships in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

It secured the maximum 100 points attainable. The runner up was butter from Fonterra Co-op in New Zealand with 99 points.

Now, there are hopes the prestige attaching to the Arrabawn success will boost sales of the product on markets abroad.

Arrabawn, whose milk intake comes from Tipperary, Galway, Offaly, Clare and parts of Roscommon, was taking part in the competition for the first time.

Chief executive Jimmy Murphy said the achievement is a tremendous honour and is a recognition of the quality of the milk produced by its farmers and a tribute to the skills of its staff under Diarmuid Quill, production manager.

“This is a wonderful achievement and a great honour for our buttermakers, Kevin McSherry and Donal Fogarty”, he said.

The gold medal for the butter will be presented to Arrabawn at a ceremony in Wisconsin on April 22.