Strathroy Dairy has secured milk transfer deals with 40 Wexford Milk Producer (WMP) members.
This is according to its managing director Ruairi Cunningham. Speaking to AgriLand this morning, he said it expects the new milk supply contracts to come into effect on 1 April this year. Cunningham was speaking ahead of a key meeting tonight, which has been organised by a number of WMP members. He said Strathroy Dairy was expecting a good attendance.
The meeting, in Taghmon GAA Hall at 8pm, is open to all WMP members, the organisers insist. In December the sale of Wexford Creamery to GIIL was narrowly approved.
The multimillion-euro agreement needs approval from the Competition Authority and 50 per cent of suppliers, who have more than 60 per cent of the volume of milk, need to sign up to new milk supply contracts for it to be ratified. A significant number of WMP members have said they will not sign with GIIL under any circumstance.
It is these members that have now signed up with Strathroy. A spokesman for Wexford Creamery said it declined to comment on the latest developments.
A spokesman for GIIL also declined to comment. On reports that the Irish Co-Operative Society has been asked to step-in to arbitrate the dispute, an ICOS spokesman said it does not have a comment to make on this speculation.