Kerry Co-op stalls on returning to arbitration

It now appears the board of Kerry Co-op has not gone back to arbitration after all on the ‘leading milk price’ issue – not yet at least.

On Friday 23 April, Kerry Co-op released a public statement effectively saying it was going back to arbitration.

This move came after Kerry Group plc publicly stated it owed nothing on the leading milk price issue.

However, at the co-op board meeting last week it was confirmed that the arbitration process hasn’t officially recommenced yet.

At that meeting, the co-op CEO Thomas Hunter McGowan is reported to have said that the co-op has the next five months to decide whether it wants to go back to arbitration or not.

A spokesperson confirmed this week that the statement two weeks ago announced the co-op’s intention to revert to arbitration.

The Irish Farmers Journal also understands there were moves made by co-op directors last week to seek a new co-op chair, but these moves weren’t successful.

It is understood that the co-op has sought clarification from the plc on whether the joint venture proposal is “suspended” or “closed off” completely.

If suspended, the co-op is likely not to initiate arbitration proceedings while that process is still ongoing.

The public statement from the co-op on Friday 23 April was as follows: “having assiduously explored all and every avenue with Kerry Group, the Co-op is left with no other choice but to revert back to the arbitration process where Kerry Group needs to finally honour its commitments under the milk supply contract and bring this matter to a conclusion.”