Ornua has been accused of not leveraging the Kerrygold brand into cheese or other products by Dairygold chair Pat Clancy.
“We’ve a great partnership with Ornua, they’ve a great brand in Kerrygold, it’s done well for them in butter.
“Ornua have a new strategy – over the next five years they want to increase their brand sales by over €1bn, which is a big ambition,” he claimed.
“They haven’t really leveraged their Kerrygold brand into cheese or other products. They need new markets, they need new products. They’ve been successful in butter, but they haven’t leveraged that brand into other products,” he said at Dairy Day 2025.
Clancy said that one third of Dairygold’s output goes to Ornua.
“A lot of that is cheese, plus we’ve the pipe through the wall with the cream that goes from Castlefarm into Kerrygold Park,” he said.
Tirlán chair John Murphy said that it would be “wrong if Ornua have a monopoly” in a market and that competition is good.
“It keeps us all on our toes. We’re big supporters of Ornua, they’ve done fantastic work over the last number of years.
“Three years ago, Ireland controlled 9% of the US market. Today that’s edging towards 12%. The Ornua category is growing, the Irish category is growing and that’s important. It’s important that we return the maximum to farmers,” he said. Tirlán’s Truly Grass Fed butter brand is in competition with Kerrygold on US shop shelves.
“The US consumer loves competition, loves choice. You go into any supermarket in the US you’ll see 40 grass-fed brands. We heard earlier this morning that New Zealand are moving in. I think it would be wrong that Ornua have this monopoly, that they’re totally protected. Competition is good for Ornua as well.”
He said maximising returns for Tirlán farm families is what drives him. Edward Carr of Arrabawn Tipperary said his co-op is expecting more from Ornua on the protein side of the business.
“We put 70% of the butter we produce though the Kerrygold brand but there’s another 30% you have to find a home for yourself. Pat alluded to it on the protein side of the business. We’d be expecting more from Ornua from that point of view.
“Can the Kerrygold brand not be spread out to bring in more than butter under the umbrella?” he asked.
Pat Clancy, Dairygold chair. \ Donal O' Leary
Ornua has been accused of not leveraging the Kerrygold brand into cheese or other products by Dairygold chair Pat Clancy.
“We’ve a great partnership with Ornua, they’ve a great brand in Kerrygold, it’s done well for them in butter.
“Ornua have a new strategy – over the next five years they want to increase their brand sales by over €1bn, which is a big ambition,” he claimed.
“They haven’t really leveraged their Kerrygold brand into cheese or other products. They need new markets, they need new products. They’ve been successful in butter, but they haven’t leveraged that brand into other products,” he said at Dairy Day 2025.
Clancy said that one third of Dairygold’s output goes to Ornua.
“A lot of that is cheese, plus we’ve the pipe through the wall with the cream that goes from Castlefarm into Kerrygold Park,” he said.
Tirlán chair John Murphy said that it would be “wrong if Ornua have a monopoly” in a market and that competition is good.
“It keeps us all on our toes. We’re big supporters of Ornua, they’ve done fantastic work over the last number of years.
“Three years ago, Ireland controlled 9% of the US market. Today that’s edging towards 12%. The Ornua category is growing, the Irish category is growing and that’s important. It’s important that we return the maximum to farmers,” he said. Tirlán’s Truly Grass Fed butter brand is in competition with Kerrygold on US shop shelves.
“The US consumer loves competition, loves choice. You go into any supermarket in the US you’ll see 40 grass-fed brands. We heard earlier this morning that New Zealand are moving in. I think it would be wrong that Ornua have this monopoly, that they’re totally protected. Competition is good for Ornua as well.”
He said maximising returns for Tirlán farm families is what drives him. Edward Carr of Arrabawn Tipperary said his co-op is expecting more from Ornua on the protein side of the business.
“We put 70% of the butter we produce though the Kerrygold brand but there’s another 30% you have to find a home for yourself. Pat alluded to it on the protein side of the business. We’d be expecting more from Ornua from that point of view.
“Can the Kerrygold brand not be spread out to bring in more than butter under the umbrella?” he asked.
Pat Clancy, Dairygold chair. \ Donal O' Leary
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