Irish dairy giant Ornua has been granted planning permission for an extension of its Mitchelstown, Co Cork, plant at Kerrygold Park, which could represent an investment in the region of €40m.
ork County Council’s planning website showed it had approved the Ornua subsidiary Kerrygold Butter Packing Ireland’s plan to extend the facility in Kerrygold Park subject to 26 conditions. The extension could create 30 permanent roles and 120 temporary jobs during construction.
Ornua said: “Ornua welcomes the decision of Cork County Council to grant planning permission for the expansion of production facilities at Kerrygold Park in Mitchelstown and would like to thank stakeholders for engaging with us during the planning process.
“We now look to move forward with this strategically important project, delivering substantial economic benefit for both Mitchelstown and the Irish farming community.”
The extension will include new churn and processing infrastructure, office space and personnel facilities. It will also have two new packaging lines and additional cold storage and distribution space.
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Consultants for Ornua said in planning documents that there is a significant constraint in the cream procession capacity in Ireland during the peak dairy production season, with some of the Ornua co-op members’ capacity full, and Kerrygold Park’s at 91pc in 2020.
The consultants added Kerrygold’s existing suppliers have predicted that by 2025 cream production will increase significantly due to increased global demand for grass-fed dairy. The current supply is expected to exceed the existing capacity for cream processing and butter packaging by 2022. It said the proposed extension is required to process this cream into a “high-value product that is internationally recognisable”.
Planning documents state production would be increased due to the extension, by around 75pc up to 2025. The extension will double the butter churning and packaging capacity of the plant, though it is not envisioned it would reach this capacity in the medium term.
The consultants estimate the construction phase would begin in the summer of 2022.
Ornua, headed by CEO John Jordan, exports to over 110 countries and owns the iconic €1bn Kerrygold brand. As a brand, it experienced 13pc volume growth in 2020, selling over 10 million packets of butter and cheese a week.
According to Ornua’s recent results, Kerrygold has become the second most popular butter brand in the US.
In 2020, Ornua reported a group turnover of €2.3bn.