Dan MacSweeney to chair IDIA

I see that Dan MacSweeney of Carbery has been elected as chairman of the Irish Dairy Industries Association (IDIA), the organisation that represents the Irish dairy processing industry. MacSweeney succeeds Jim Bergin, CEO of Glanbia Ingredients Ireland, who has been chairman of the IDIA over the last three years. Jim Woulfe, CEO of Dairygold Co-op, was elected to the position of vice-chair.

Kerry directors sell shares

Brian Mehigan, financial controller with Kerry Group, this week sold 17,321 Kerry Group shares he acquired as part of the company’s long-term incentive plan. At the prevailing price of €52.90, the transaction earned him €916,280. He retains 40,334 shares in Kerry Group, with a value of over €5m at current prices. Company boss Stan McCarthy acquired options on 35,772 shares and sold 13,700 of them to generate €724,730. Gerry Behan acquired 17,792 shares and sold 8,500 to generate €449,650.

Contractors look for dinner in the middle of the day from taxman

Tuesday was the deadline for submission to the farm taxation review. I note that the Farm Contractors Association of Ireland (FCI) is seeking a meal allowance for employees similar to that offered to road haulage contractors. They claim that because of the changes in the structure of Irish farming and society, most farm/agricultural contractors are now required to provide food/meals for their teams of seasonal workers.

Less and less of the “dinner in the middle of the day” it seems!

Butter popular with consumers

The people have spoken and they want butter! The Dealer is happy to report that according to a survey carried out by AgriAware, the people of Ireland prefer natural butter to spreads or margarines. Of those surveyed, 81% said they use butter while 51% say they also use spreads or margarines.

Meanwhile, yellow spreads, many with less than 1% dairy content, continue to abuse the term butter and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) are slow to take any action.