Mogeely to be cheese centre of excellence
Earlier this year, plans for Norway’s TINE dairy co-op to build a new cheese factory in Ireland were announced, and Norwegian agriculture minister Jon Georg Dale and Tine chief executive Ms Hanne Refsholt visited Mogeely last week to view the site where a TINE/Dairygold Co-op partnership will develop the facility beside Dairygold’s existing cheese plant.
Dairygold has been manufacturing Jarlsberg Cheese on behalf of TINE at Mogeely since 2013.
The new dedicated Jarlsberg facility will enable a significant increase in production capacity, commencing in 2019.
TINE chairman, Trond Reierstad said: “We have had a long and successful relationship with Dairygold and when TINE needed to develop EU production facilities for our Jarlsberg exports, Mogeely was an obvious choice for that investment.”
TINE SA is Norway’s largest dairy company, owned by more than 11,000 dairy farmers who deliver 1.454bn litres of cow’s milk and about 20m litres of goat’s milk per year.
TINE is Norway’s largest food manufacturer, with 5,360 employees and annual turnover of €2.4bn.
The new facility will manufacture Norway’s best known cheese brand for export to Europe, the US and Australia, transforming the Mogeely site into an international centre of excellence for cheese production.
At Mogeely, Mr Dale joined with Agriculture Minister Michael Creed to plant an oak tree on the site of the new Jarlsberg premises.
The occasion was the first ever bilateral meeting of agriculture ministers from Norway and Ireland.
Mr Creed said: “This is a very exciting development demonstrating how world renowned dairy brands like Norway’s Jarlsberg Cheese can work with world renowned dairy processors like Dairygold to create added value for our respective dairy sectors.
“This investment will undoubtedly drive export opportunities for both businesses and marks a significant endorsement of Mogeely as an international centre of excellence for cheese production.”
