Ornua, the owner of Kerrygold, is today (Wednesday, October 25) unveiling a new €40 million development at Kerrygold Park.
The investment means that the production facility in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork has increased production by up to 80,000 tonnes of butter per year, which equates to over one million packs per day.
The new development will be officially opened by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney this morning.
Kerrygold Park
The butter production facility at Kerrygold Park includes two state-of-the-art butter churns and 10 packing lines for a range of over 50 different product formats supplied to more than 60 markets globally.
A new 100g Kerrygold butter stick was recently launched on the Irish market.
As a result of the investment, which was supported by funding from Enterprise Ireland, Ornua has increased direct employment at the facility by 20%.
The 30 new jobs bring dairy co-operative‘s total workforce at Kerrygold Park to 180.
Minister Charlie McConalogue said that today’s announcement represents “a very significant milestone in the long and successful Kerrygold story” and “the story of Irish dairy”.
“This strategic investment, supported by government’s Capital Investment Scheme [through Enterprise Ireland], ensures Kerrygold has the world-leading processing capabilities needed to continue to grow the brand and generate value for the community of Irish dairy farming families which it represents,” he said.
Ornua
Aidan O’Driscoll, Ornua co-operative chair, added: “Our strategic development of Kerrygold Park is central to this ambition and will support the next phase of growth for Kerrygold on its journey to become Ireland’s first €2 billion food brand.”
Established in 1962, Kerrygold’s products are made from the milk produced on 14,000 Irish family dairy farms.
With over 11 million packs of butter and cheese sold globally each week, Kerrygold is the number one butter brand in Germany and Ireland, and the number two butter brand in the US.
Ornua, Ireland’s largest exporter of dairy products with annual sales of over €3.4 billion, has been producing and packing Kerrygold at Kerrygold Park since 2016.
Three years after the facility opened, the brand reached €1 billion in retail sales globally in 2019, becoming the first Irish food brand to do so.
Ornua employs 3,000 people at 10 business units worldwide, including 16 production facilities in Ireland, Germany and the UK.