Group records growth across global businesses

Carbery Group has had solid growth across its global food ingredients, flavours, and dairy businesses, with pre-tax profits for 2013 up 23% to €13m and turnover up 11.9% to €318.3m.

Group-wide capital expenditure totalled €12.7m last year. Carbery, which is also investing €6m in cheese-making facilities in Ballineen, West Cork, is finalising preparations to manage a 40% increase in milk supplies in 2015 and beyond.

Along with mature markets such as the US and the EU, the group is building its presence in emerging markets. “We anticipate a lot of growth in the Middle East and north Africa, as well as in Asia,” said chief executive Dan MacSweeney.

“We are working with the Irish Dairy Board in those markets. Carbery’s innovation focus is to satisfy these market needs through unique milk fractions and flavour solutions.”

In 2012 the group entered into a joint venture in southern Brazil with local multinational BRF, to build and run a whey processing plant in Rio Grand Du Sol. This plant is due to begin production in September and is key to Carbery’s plans to target the Latin American market.

“This joint venture gives us access to large volumes of fresh whey which we will convert into valuable nutritional ingredients, using Carbery’s expertise, for the rapidly expanding Latin American food and beverage markets. We are very excited by the potential of this development,” said Mr MacSweeney.

Synergy, Carbery Group’s taste and natural extracts division, opened a flavour plant at Wauconda, Illinois, which integrates three existing Synergy sites in the US.

Synergy also opened a facility in Thailand last May. “This investment in Thailand is part of our strategy to further expand our presence and capabilities in south-east Asia, which has tremendous potential because of its rapidly expanding population and increasing wealth,” said Mr MacSweeney.

Best known to consumers as the producers of Dubliner and other cheeses, Carbery’s main focus is on nutritional and functional ingredients, proteins, whey, flavours, savoury solutions, and quality ethanol for the beverages industry, as well as food, pharmaceuticals and industrial applications.

Carbery’s cheese business had a difficult first half of 2013 before recovering later in the year. Despite the challenging market for cheese, Carbery’s four shareholder co-ops, Bandon, Barryroe, Drinagh, and Lisavaird, continued to pay a strong milk price to suppliers during 2013.

“The global dairy market is changing quite quickly,” Mr MacSweeney said. “Global dairy prices are coming down. The good milk price of the past year has led to strong milk flows.

“Milk is a volatile market. We are seeing prices coming down in global dairy auctions, and there will be further price adjustments.”