Ornua to merge cheese businesses

By Laurence Gibbons

- Last updated on GMT

Ornua Ingredients UK will supply grated cheese to food manufacturers
Ornua Ingredients UK will supply grated cheese to food manufacturers

Related tags Milk

Irish dairy co-operative Ornua will merge two of its UK-based businesses, Meadow Cheese and The Cheese Warehouse, in January 2016 in a bid to boost its market position, it has revealed.

The new business will be named Ornua Ingredients UK and will focus on supplying cheese and dairy ingredients to the food manufacturing and foodservice sectors, it said. 

The merger would create a business with the necessary scale and capabilities to provide customers with a wide-range of products, category insight, greater new product development and innovation and enhanced levels of customer service and support, Ornua said.

Ornua’s trading and ingredients md Joe Collins said: “Both Meadow Cheese and The Cheese Warehouse have strong reputations for developing and delivering a range of high quality products tailored to the needs of their food manufacturing and foodservice customers.  

Expansion

“By combining the respective strengths and capabilities of the two businesses, Ornua Ingredients UK will have a strong platform from which to expand its customer base and establish itself as one of the UK’s foremost suppliers of dairy ingredients.”

Ornua Ingredients UK will be headquartered in Ledbury and employ around 200 staff across two sites.

It will supply customised dairy ingredients, grated natural cheese and processed cheese in a range of formats.

Jobs and investment

A spokesman for Ornua told FoodManufacture.co.uk that no jobs would be gained or lost as a result of the move.

Ornua key facts

  • Annual sales of more than €2bn
  • Based in Dublin
  • 3,000 employees
  • Responsible for 60% of Ireland’s dairy exports to over 100 countries

It was likely that there would be investment in the business at a later stage, although there are no immediate plans, he added.

The new business will be led by chief executive Dr Aidan Wilson, currently md of The Cheese Warehouse. Meadow Cheese’s md Michael Harte will take on the same role at Ornua Ingredients UK.

Ornua’s brands include Kerrygold, Pilgrims Choice, Dubliner cheese, and African milk powder BEO.

Related topics Dairy Dairy-based ingredients

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