Lakeland Dairies chief executive Michael Hanley told the Irish Farmers Journal this week that the co-op is well positioned in a post-Brexit environment.

While he says there are concerns for the industry as a whole, the Fane Valley acquisition and direct sales to customers in 80 countries around the world mean Lakeland is well positioned.

He says the acquisition of Fane Valley, which cost €13m plus a further €2m in restructuring costs to move operations to other Lakeland facilities, provides Lakeland with flexibility in the case of a hard Brexit.

Half of Lakeland’s milk pool now comes from Northern Ireland. Hanley is hopeful that some deal can be struck where there could be tariff-free movement of imported milk into Ireland for re-export.

On milk outlook, he said it is still a concern that there is no demand-driven lift in prices and that the recent correction has been a supply-driven one.

His comments come as Lakeland saw profits halve to €7.2m last year as a result of supporting milk prices by 1.5c/l.

Read more

Profits halve at Lakeland due to milk price supports