Kerrygold sales hit €1bn as profits increase to €49m for Ornua

Irish dairy co-op Ornua recorded a strong financial performance in 2019 as sales of the iconic Kerrygold brand topped €1bn for the first time. Ornua’s operating profit for the year showed double-digit growth of 22% to €49m as operating profit margins widened slightly to 2.1%.

Earnings (EBITDA) grew by 19% in 2019 to reach just under €72m, while overall sales for the year grew by 12% to just over €2.3bn.

In total, Ornua purchased 340,000t of dairy product from its member co-ops Arrabawn, Aurivo, Carbery, Dairygold, Glanbia, Lakeland, North Cork and Tipperary.

On the back of this strong financial result, Ornua has increased its bonus payout to members by 37% for last year to €26m. Over the course of 2019, Ornua paid down the last of its net debt, leaving the co-op with net cash of almost €23m by year-end.

Given the current situation, this will give Ornua a fighting chance to meet the challenges posed by COVID-19 and continue to maximise the value of Irish dairy on behalf of farmers.

Brand

Kerrygold sales topped €1bn for the first time in 2019. This is a key milestone for the Kerrygold brand, which accounts for over 1bn litres of Irish milk every year.

Despite US president Donald Trump slapping an import tariff of 25% on Irish butter at the tail end of last year, Kerrygold still enjoyed double-digit growth in the US market. The brand attracts significant customer loyalty and has the highest repeat purchase rate versus its competitors in Germany, the US and the UK, which are the three core markets for the brand.

According to Ornua CEO John Jordan, about 8.6m packets of Kerrygold butter are sold every week around the world and the brand is seeing a spike in sales due to the recent switch to supermarket shopping for almost all food.