The Twenty20 Beef Club, a partnership between Glanbia Ireland and Kepak Group, has won a European Innovation Award for co-operative innovation in an international competition organised by Cogeca.

Shortlisted under the 'Economic Value Creation' category, the international judging panel, which assessed over 100 entries from across Europe, singled out the Twenty20 Beef Club, saying it represents “an outstanding innovation that creates valuable impact in the value chain”.

Kepak agribusiness manager Mick O’Dowd said: “The Twenty20 Beef Club is anchored in providing greater financial certainty to farmers for producing beef more sustainably.

“As the club continues to grow, Cogeca’s endorsement gives us further confidence that we are on the right track.”

Second award

Glanbia Ireland head of beef Martin Ryan said: “Whilst the award recognises the immense capacity of the Twenty20 Beef Club to generate monetary value for our farmer members, the jury also called out the environmental, economic and social sustainability credentials of the club.

“It is both comforting and reassuring to all involved in our value chain to see an EU-based independent adjudication panel recognise the Twenty20 Beef Club with this European Innovation Award.”

It’s a second win in the international competition for Glanbia Co-op. MilkFlex is a previous winner, taking the co-operative innovation award in the same Europe-wide competition in 2017.