Ornua,[3] from the Irish "Ór Nua" meaning "new gold" (known as The Irish Dairy Board from 1961 until 2015), is an Irish agricultural cooperative, which markets and sells dairy products on behalf of its members: Irish dairy processors and Irish dairy farmers. The co-operative is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products and owns the Kerrygold butter and cheese brand[4] as well as Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur. In addition to the Kerrygold brand, its brand portfolio includes Pilgrims Choice, Dubliner, Shannongold, and BEO milk powder.
 | |
| Formerly | The Irish Dairy Board (1961–2015) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Statutory agricultural cooperative |
| Industry | Food retail |
| Predecessor | Butter Marketing Committee |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Founder | Government of Ireland |
| Headquarters | Grattan House, Mount Street, , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Revenue | €2.3 billion (2014)[1] |
| €30.2 million (2014)[2] | |
| Owners | |
Number of employees | 3,300 |
| Website | ornua.com |
History
editThis section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2021) |
The Irish Dairy Board was established by an act of the Oireachtas, the Dairy Produce Marketing Act 1961,[5][6] and replaced the earlier Butter Marketing Committee.[7][8] It was created to centralise the overseas marketing of Irish dairy products to achieve economies of scale and greater brand recognition. At the time of the Board's creation, the European Economic Community's market was closed to Irish butter, and the United Kingdom market limited Irish imports by an import quota. Tony O'Reilly was appointed General Manager in 1962 and announced to the board in July the plan to launch a new consumer brand to grow exports of Butter.[9]
The name Kerrygold was selected to evoke "farming, naturalness, goodness and above all quality milk" as well as a sense of Irishness.[10] In October 1962, the Board successfully test-launched the Kerrygold brand in the Winterhill area of North West England.
When Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, the Board began expanding its presence to continental Europe, beginning with the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany. By 1982, Kerrygold had national distribution in Germany.
On 31 March 2015, the Board assumed a new corporate identity as Ornua: "The Home of Irish Dairy".[11]
Today
edit
Currently, Ornua operates from 19 subsidiaries worldwide, with pre-packing and blending facilities located in Germany, Great Britain, the United States and the Middle East. A €36m Kerrygold butter production and packing plant (Kerrygold Park) has been constructed in Mitchelstown, County Cork. In 2020, Ornua announced an investment of £3m in its Leek production facilities, to boost capacity in response to greater consumer demand for its cheese products and bringing total annual production to more than 110,000 tonnes.[12]
In 2014, the Spanish cheese manufacturer Luxtor, previously a subsidiary of the system catering chain Telepizza, was taken over.[13]
Kerrygold is the second highest-selling butter in the United States and the highest-selling butter in Ireland as of 2019.[14]
Awards
editThe Irish Dairy Board was awarded Exporter of the Year by the Irish Exporters in 2010.[15]
References
edit- ^ Company Profile Ornua. Retrieved: 22 May 2011.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). ornua.annualreport14.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Company Profile Ornua. Retrieved: 20 October 2015.
- ^ Ornua Kerrygold.com. Retrieved: 22 May 2011.
- ^ "Dairy Produce Marketing Act, 1961". irishstatutebook.ie. 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- ^ "Kerrygold Historie". Ornua Deutschland. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
- ^ "DAIRY PRODUCE (PRICE STABILISATION) ACT, 1935". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ "S.I. No. 354/1935 - Butter (Levy and Bounty) Order, 1935". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ Cooper, Matt (2015). The maximalist : the rise and fall of Tony O'Reilly. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. pp. 62–67. ISBN 978-0-7171-6721-0.
- ^ The Creation of the Kerrygold Brand Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Kerrygold.com. Retrieved: 22 May 2011.
- ^ "Irish Dairy Board votes to change name to Ornua". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
- ^ Addy, Rod. "Ornua Foods UK invests £3m in Leek factory". Food Manufacture.
- ^ Irish Dairy Board übernimmt spanischen Käsehersteller - top agrar online, 9. September 2014
- ^ Dunn, Elizabeth G (2 October 2019). "Irish Butter Kerrygold Has Conquered America's Kitchens". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ "IDB by numbers". independent.ie. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2012.