Kerry suppliers to protest at Charleville processing plant over 'frustrating' milk price

Kerry Group in Charleville, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

Milk suppliers are set to protest outside the Kerry Group plc's Charleville milk processing plant on Tuesday morning.

The board of Kerry Co-op has confirmed that it will join Kerry milk suppliers at the protest, which is being held in response to the "poor milk price" paid by Kerry Group to suppliers.

It follows a discussion on the issue of milk pricing at a board meeting of Kerry Co-op on Monday morning.

Following a series of monthly milk price reductions, the Kerry milk price is "now 3c per litre behind the price being paid by neighbouring processors and is at the bottom of the 2023 milk price league", Kerry Co-op said in a statement.

The protesting milk suppliers are calling for the Kerry Group plc milk price "to be brought into line with milk processors across the country, who have supported milk price over recent months in the face of weaker returns from the international markets".

'Frustrating'

Kerry Group confirmed its price for May milk supplies recently, with the base price down 1c to 37c per litre.

Kerry Co-op’s vice-chairman and chairman of the society’s leading milk price committee Conor Creedon said that last week’s price reduction was "especially frustrating as the month of May represents peak milk production when some 16% of milk is produced". 

He said that Kerry Co-op is "determined to rectify this and Kerry Group plc will have to stand by the leading milk price commitment that it established with the suppliers some years ago". 

Commitment to paying leading price

Kerry Co-op chairman Denis Carroll commented: "Kerry Group Plc needs to empathise more with milk suppliers and maintain its monthly milk price consistent with its commitment to paying the leading milk price. 

"Failure to do so monthly only damages the relationship between suppliers and the plc. 

"The gap in milk price will have to be compensated for when the leading milk price commitment is determined."

Kerry Co-op is the largest shareholder in Kerry Group plc, working on representing the views and interests of all shareholders.

It is led by its elected board of directors from the nine electoral areas across counties Kerry, Clare, Cork and Limerick.

'Widening gap'

Ahead of Tuesday's protest, Irish Farmers' Association dairy chairman Stephen Arthur has called on Kerry to close the widening gap in milk price between them and other dairy processors.

The IFA estimates that an average Kerry milk supplier, milking 90 cows, "received about €2,000 less for their May milk when compared with other processors". 

"For many Kerry milk suppliers, this is below their cost of production given the massive cost increases and the difficult spring weather they have endured," Mr Arthur said.

He said Kerry is "now lagging significantly" on milk price, and this "needs to be rectified immediately if Kerry is going to live up to [its] promise to pay the leading milk price on a like-for-like basis".

"We are calling on Kerry to commit to addressing this widening gap with a significant supplemental payment in the June milk payments," Mr Arthur added.