Ornua
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Company type | Statutory agricultural cooperative |
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Industry | Food retail |
Predecessor | Butter Marketing Committee |
Founded | 1961 |
Founder | Government of Ireland |
Headquarters | Grattan House, Mount Street, , |
Area served | Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Africa, Australasia |
Revenue | €2.3 billion (2014)[1] |
€30.2 million (2014)[2] | |
Number of employees | 3,300 |
Website | ornua.com |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Kerrygold_Butter%27s_Volkswagen_New_Beetle.jpg/220px-Kerrygold_Butter%27s_Volkswagen_New_Beetle.jpg)
Ornua[3] from the Irish "Ór Nua" meaning "new gold" (previously known as The Irish Dairy Board) is an Irish agri-food 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 conjunction to the Kerrygold brand, its brand portfolio consists of Pilgrims Choice, Dubliner, Shannongold, and BEO milk powder. On 31 March 2015, Ornua transformed its corporate identity from the Irish Dairy Board to Ornua: "The Home of Irish Dairy".
History
The Irish Dairy Board was established by an act of the Oireachtas, the Dairy Produce Marketing Act 1961,[5] and replaced the earlier Butter Marketing Committee. 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.
The name Kerrygold was selected to evoke "farming, naturalness, goodness and above all quality milk" as well as a sense of Irishness.[6] 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.
Today
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Kerrygold_in_dingle.jpg/220px-Kerrygold_in_dingle.jpg)
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 state-of-the-art Kerrygold butter production and packing plant (Kerrygold Park) has been constructed in Mitchelstown, County Cork
Kerrygold is the second highest-selling butter in the United States and the highest-selling butter in Ireland as of 2019.[7]
Awards
The Irish Dairy Board was awarded Exporter of the Year by the Irish Exporters in 2010.[8]
References
- ^ Company Profile Ornua. Retrieved: 2011-05-22.
- ^ http://ornua.annualreport14.com/img/Ornua--Annual-Report--2014.pdf
- ^ Company Profile Ornua. Retrieved: 2015-10-20.
- ^ Ornua Kerrygold.com. Retrieved: 2011-05-22.
- ^ "Dairy Produce Marketing Act, 1961". irishstatutebook.ie. 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- ^ The Creation of the Kerrygold Brand Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Kerrygold.com. Retrieved: 2011-05-22.
- ^ Dunn, Elizabeth G (2 October 2019). "Irish Butter Kerrygold Has Conquered America's Kitchens". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ "IDB by numbers - News & Features, Farming - Independent.ie". independent.ie. 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.