Ornua begins €10m extension of its German plant
Investment in the Ornua Deutschland GMBH plant is driven by growing demand for Kerrygold products in Germany and in other overseas markets.
This is the third expansion at the plant by Ornua, Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, bringing its investment there to €50m.
In the last two years, Ornua has grown production capacity in China, Germany, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the US and UK.
Most recently, Ornua opened Kerrygold Park, in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, the new global home for Kerrygold.
Today, Kerrygold sales retail at €750m, with targets to grow to €1bn.
Germany is a core market for Kerrygold. Since its 1973 German launch, the brand has grown steadily.
Kevin Lane, CEO, Ornua said: “This year, Kerrygold in Germany will again deliver double-digit growth. Ongoing investment in the brand and our facilities has been critical to the Kerrygold success story. This most recent investment enables us to further expand our business in Germany and throughout this region.
“We are a premium brand and our customers expect products of consistent high quality. Ensuring we meet those expectations, every time, is key to growing our business.”
Kerrygold is the No 1 butter brand in Germany, selling hundreds of million packets each year and is the brand leader for butter, spreads and cheese.
Ornua recently launched Kerrygold yoghurts in the German market, including a variety of fruit yoghurts. At present, 23,000 German food stores carry Kerrygold products.
In the past two years, the employment at the Neukirchen-Vluyn site has risen from 120 to 160. The current extension will take around 12 months to complete.
Meanwhile, The Ornua PP Index for October is 95.9 (27.9cpl, Vat inclusive, based on Ornua’s product purchase mix and assumed costs of 6.5ppl), adjusted from 92.2 in September. It reflects higher returns in the month across all main products.
Citing the Ornua index, IFA dairy chairman Sean O’Leary said milk processors should add 3c per litre to their October milk price. He said the uplift reflects the continued strengthening of commodity prices.
“The EU average dairy product prices published by the EU Milk Market Observatory from weekly Member States’ reports have been equivalent to at least 35c/l before processing costs throughout October. That would be equivalent to a milk price of 30-31c/l including Vat,” Mr O’Leary said.
