I hear that the Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GII) representatives at Ornua, Jim Bergin and Martin Keane, have had to step out of board meetings and hang around in the corridor when the sensitive issue of the US cheese market came up for discussion. That is because their Truly Grass Fed cheese is now competing there with Ornua’s Kerrygold cheeses.
I hear that the Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GII) representatives at Ornua, Jim Bergin and Martin Keane, have had to step out of board meetings and hang around in the corridor when the sensitive issue of the US cheese market came up for discussion.
That is because their Truly Grass Fed cheese is now competing there with Ornua’s Kerrygold cheeses.
Ornua chair Aaron Forde puts out Bergin and Keane because he and his chief executive, John Jordan, don’t want the two, GII chief executive and chair respectively, learning Ornua’s prices, volumes and margins in the US and use this information to sell more GII cheese.
After the discussion, Forde allows the two step back in.
The GII men aren’t the only ones made stand in the corridor.
Lakeland’s Michael G Hanley also had to step outside on occasion because he sells dairy product in competition with Ornua.
One observer compared the meeting to the comical song Lanigan’s Ball.
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