All Glanbia Ireland facilities continue to operate to their planned capacity levels for this time of year, the dairy giant has confirmed in an update on the coronavirus situation today, Monday, April 6.
Current weekly milk supply is around 70 million litres, which is slightly behind forecast due to the cold weather and sluggish grass growth.
Glanbia’s forecast for peak supply is over 90 million litres per week, so volumes will continue to ramp up in the coming weeks, the processor said in a statement to suppliers, adding:
In terms of tanker loads, we are collecting 2,600 loads per week currently and are planning for around 3,350 loads in peak week.
“Through Dairy Industry Ireland (DII), we are collaborating with all stakeholders to make every possible effort to ensure that all milk produced on farms can continue to be processed and marketed,” the statement added.
The processor did warn, however, that a national public health emergency “does create additional risks to Ireland’s processing capacity through peak season”, so contingency plans for a range of scenarios have been prepared.
“We can also assure you that huge work has been done in the plants to ensure that they are in the best possible position to handle the challenges ahead and to minimise the chances of any impact on milk collection.
We have assembled a pool of back-up staff and have protocols in place across all the key areas.
“As of today, we remain confident that we can continue to process all milk supplied in line with your supply forecast, but this is a very dynamic environment evolving on a daily basis, as you can appreciate.
“You can be assured that we will continue to keep you informed over the coming weeks.
“We are also working very actively at Irish Government and EU level to protect your interests,” the dairy giant informed its suppliers.