Carbery bring Irish mozzarella to the Asian consumer

Increased manufacturing capacity expected to cater for Carbery's milk supply growth up to nearly 2030

Carbery at  Ballineen, Co Cork, where a newly built cheese plant will focus solely on pasta filata, which includes types of mozzarella and grilling cheeses. Picture: Dan Linehan

Carbery Group is expanding its cheese production by opening a new mozzarella plant that incorporates a €78m investment.

The focus for the diversification is the Asian market, but CEO Jason Hawkins said there are opportunities on the domestic front too.

The move is helping the company to become Brexit-ready, and the move into the Asian market is coming at the right time, said Mr Hawkins.

Carbery Group, which is owned by the four West Cork dairy co-ops, has 1,220 farmer suppliers, with 300 staff working at their Ballineen headquarters, and 500 more working across eight sites globally.

Over the last 12 months, 250 contractors have also been on the Ballineen site, bringing the new cheese plant to fruition.

“Carbery Group has built a new cheese plant that focuses solely on pasta filata, which includes types of mozzarella and grilling cheeses,” said Mr Hawkins.

“We were starting to get to capacity at the site.

“Post quota, it is a significant investment in terms of dealing with the added milk, but we were also looking to diversify our portfolio a little bit.

“Historically, 60% of our milk goes into cheese which goes into the UK market, so there is significant exposure there.

“The mozzarella at the new plant will service the premium markets in Asia — China, Japan, South Korea.”

The move to mozzarella is mitigating the co-op’s Brexit exposure to the UK market.

Meanwhile, financially things are going in the right direction for Carbery Group.

“We are in good shape, and while we paused things a little bit in March because of Covid-19, we will start manufacturing the new lines in the coming weeks and getting the product out into the market for customers,” said Mr Hawkins.

“Brexit is on the horizon, and has been for the last three years, so the diversification into different cheese is helping the co-op to mitigate a hard Brexit and its reliance on the UK market for its cheddar cheese.

“Asia makes sense for us as well, particularly because of the Irish grass-based system.

“If you look at Asia, a lot of the premium markets are serviced by New Zealand and Fonterra, which is a grass-based system.

“Also, bringing mozzarella into Europe mightn’t necessarily work for us, because the Europeans are used to a white European-type mozzarella, and ours is more yellow, because of the grass-based system here, and that is the type of mozzarella you will see in Asia, because of the New Zealand system.”

He said it’s the co-op’s “big play” now, and it has secured a niche value-added market by focusing on Asia.

“We are picking out niche value-added markets that can offer a nice alternative to the UK market, given the uncertainty with Brexit.”

“This is our big play now, and we are very focused on making that work. We would say that, given the capacity around that new line and the projected milk growth of 2% to 4% over the next five to six years, we will be able to handle all of that milk with this new expansion.

“In fact, we are probably good until close to 2030.

“There are some opportunities for the mozzarella in the domestic market, because there is no significant mozzarella being produced in Ireland, and we know that customers are interested in having a domestic source.

“We already manage our Dubliner brand in Ireland, and our Carbery Cracker Cheese, a smooth mature cheddar that has a rounded flavour, is regarded as a West Cork cheese.

“Since the lockdown, there is a lot of activity around people supporting the local economy, so we certainly see a base for our mozzarella, even though it will be a much smaller market for us.

“Our sustainability credentials are also a key point and we see that in the market research we have carried out in Asia.

“There is an appreciation for sustainable, nutritious food and dairy products.

Along with our nutrition portfolio, there is a lot of focus on protein nutrition in terms of infant formula and our sports nutrition range, and that too is a very important part of our international markets.

“Real food is incredibly important.”