As the world entered a destructive pandemic, the Irish dairy multinational had a bigger challenge on its hands: the sports and health nutrition brands at the core of its success story were running out of steam. A shock treatment delivered during lockdowns appears to have worked.
As the food technology group recovers from Covid-19, its chief executive Edmond Scanlon answered a series of questions on the way it picks, conducts and reports acquisitions. The future of its dairy and consumer foods businesses is far less clear.
The historic Kerry Co-op is in advanced talks with the wider food group to regain control of its domestic agribusiness. The deal is a high-stakes bet for the farmers, and part of a final focus on high-tech ingredients for Kerry Group.
The Currency was first to report on the overvaluation of the north-western agribusiness’s sports nutrition subsidiary My Goodness, and annual accounts have now confirmed an asset write-down. But there is much more to the co-op – and other options to sustain it into the future.
Butter prices are down, farmers are getting less for their milk and cheese stocks are going into cold stores. But unlike other sectors, Ireland’s dairy industry is working as one and its businesses entered the crisis with strong balance sheets.
Contemptuous of cheddar, but jealous of Irish rain: a new study by Bord Bia’s French counterpart assesses the performance of Ireland among the world’s top dairy exporters and holds some lessons for the industry here.
Many sectors face severe disruption if Brussels and London fail to seal a Brexit agreement in the coming days. One would disappear: milk production and processing in Northern Ireland.
Industry experts warn of a “disproportionate” impact on Ireland as new US tariffs are set to hit European exports in two weeks’ time.
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