North Cork butter to be available in shops nationwide
Mairead Lucey, third-generation farmer; Stacey Reen, store manager, and Pat Sheahan, CEO of North Cork Creameries with Ór-Real Irish Butter at Twohig's Supervalu in Kanturk. Picture: Michael O'Sullivan / OSM PHOTO
An Irish butter brand made using traditional methods in North Cork will soon be available in hundreds of outlets across Ireland.
Ór-Real Irish Butter, which is produced by North Cork Creameries, has now been added to shelves across the entire SuperValu network and is being rolled out to Centra stores across the country.
North Cork Creameries was established in Kanturk in 1928.
It has been making butter for almost 100 years using summer milk from local, certified grass-fed cows.
Ór-Real Irish Butter is made using the traditional method of slow churning, and the only addition is a touch of salt.
Pat Sheahan, CEO of North Cork Creameries said there is a "real appetite for quality, natural products and we’re seeing a resurgence in the demand for real Irish butter".
"We have strong ambitions to grow Ór-Real Irish Butter," Mr Sheahan said.
"We’re in a unique position in North Cork with the right amount of rain and ideal soil profiles to enable us to produce the highest quality milk from grass-fed cows.
"We thrive on tradition and use our generations of expertise to turn the finest local milk into butter.
"Our farmers, their families and our locality are all part of what makes Ór-Real Irish Butter special.”
Mairead Lucey is the third generation of her family to farm in Corbally, Kanturk.
Her family has supplied milk to North Cork Creameries since its establishment in 1928.
Ms Lucey commented: "There is something special about seeing Ór-Real Irish Butter in shops across Ireland knowing that it was made using milk from our cows and from neighbouring farms in the area.
"I’m delighted to be able to continue the family tradition and safeguard it for future generations.
The farmer-owned independent co-op North Cork Creameries employs more than 100 local people directly and supports 250 local family farm milk suppliers.
Its revenues increased by 16% in 2021 to just over €155m.
The co-op processed 226m litres of whole milk last year and produced 17,580t of butter.
The co-op won gold in the dairy butter category of the 2021 Blas na hEireann awards, as well as being a finalist in 2019 and 2020.
Additionally, it has won the Irish Quality Food and Drink Q Awards for a number of years in succession as well as medals at the Great Taste Awards in both 2019 and 2020.
