Ornua
Irish agri-food co-operative
title: "Ornua" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["marketing-boards", "agricultural-marketing-cooperatives", "agriculture-in-the-republic-of-ireland", "dairy-products-companies-of-ireland", "co-operatives-in-ireland", "co-operatives-in-the-republic-of-ireland", "food-and-drink-companies-based-in-dublin-(city)", "irish-brands"] description: "Irish agri-food co-operative" topic_path: "geography/ireland" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornua" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Irish agri-food co-operative ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ornua Co-operative Limited |
| logo | Ornua logo.svg |
| logo_size | 250 |
| former_names | The Irish Dairy Board (1961–2015) |
| type | Statutory agricultural cooperative |
| predecessor | Butter Marketing Committee |
| foundation | |
| founder | Government of Ireland |
| location_city | Dublin |
| location_country | Ireland |
| location | Grattan House, Mount Street |
| area_served | Worldwide |
| industry | Food retail |
| revenue | €2.3 billion (2014) |
| operating_income | €30.2 million (2014) |
| owners | {{unbulleted list |
| num_employees | 3,300 |
| homepage | |
| :: |
| name = Ornua Co-operative Limited | logo = Ornua logo.svg | logo_size = 250 | caption = | former_names = The Irish Dairy Board (1961–2015) | type = Statutory agricultural cooperative | genre = | fate = | predecessor = Butter Marketing Committee | successor = | foundation = | founder = Government of Ireland | defunct = | location_city = Dublin | location_country = Ireland | location = Grattan House, Mount Street | locations = | area_served = Worldwide | key_people = | industry = Food retail | products = | services = | revenue = €2.3 billion (2014) | operating_income = €30.2 million (2014) | net_income = | aum = | assets = | equity = | owners = {{unbulleted list|
- Tirlán
- Dairygold Co-operative Society Limited
- Lakeland Dairies Co-operative Limited
- Arrabawn Co-operative Society Limited
- Aurivo Co-operative Society Limited
- North Cork Co-operative Creameries Limited
- Tipperary Co-operative Creamery Limited
- Carbery Creameries Limited
| num_employees = 3,300 | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = | footnotes = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Kerrygold_Butter's_Volkswagen_New_Beetle.jpg" caption="Car advertising Kerrygold Butter in Denver"] ::
Ornua, from the Irish "Ór Nua" meaning "new gold" (known as The Irish Dairy Board from 1961 until 2015), is an Irish agricultural cooperative, which markets and sells dairy products on behalf of its members: Irish dairy processors and Irish dairy farmers. The co-operative is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products and owns the Kerrygold butter and cheese brand as well as Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur. In addition to the Kerrygold brand, its brand portfolio includes Pilgrims Choice, Dubliner, Shannongold, and BEO milk powder.
History
The Irish Dairy Board was established by an act of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament), the Dairy Produce Marketing Act 1961, and replaced the earlier Butter Marketing Committee. It was created to centralise the overseas marketing of Irish dairy products to achieve economies of scale and greater brand recognition. At the time of the Board's creation, the European Economic Community's market was closed to Irish butter, and the United Kingdom market limited Irish imports by an import quota. Tony O'Reilly was appointed General Manager in 1962 and announced to the board in July the plan to launch a new consumer brand to grow exports of butter.
The name Kerrygold was selected to evoke "farming, naturalness, goodness and above all quality milk" as well as a sense of Irishness. In October 1962, the Board successfully test-launched the Kerrygold brand in the Winterhill area of North West England.
When Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, the Board began expanding its presence to continental Europe, beginning with the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany. By 1982, Kerrygold had national distribution in Germany.
On 31 March 2015, the Board assumed a new corporate identity as Ornua: "The Home of Irish Dairy".
Today
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Kerrygold_in_dingle.jpg" caption="Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur"] ::
Currently, Ornua operates from 19 subsidiaries worldwide, with pre-packing and blending facilities located in Germany, Great Britain, the United States and the Middle East. A €36m Kerrygold butter production and packing plant (Kerrygold Park) has been constructed in Mitchelstown, County Cork. In 2020, Ornua announced an investment of £3m in its Leek production facilities, to boost capacity in response to greater consumer demand for its cheese products and bringing total annual production to more than 110,000 tonnes.
In 2014, the Spanish cheese manufacturer Luxtor, previously a subsidiary of the system catering chain Telepizza, was taken over.
Kerrygold is the second highest-selling butter in the United States and the highest-selling butter in Ireland as of 2019. Kerrygold experienced "double-digit growth almost every year" from 2009 to 2019.
Awards
The Irish Dairy Board was awarded Exporter of the Year by the Irish Exporters in 2010.
References
References
- [http://www.ornua.com/ Company Profile] ''Ornua''. Retrieved: 22 May 2011.
- "Archived copy".
- [http://www.ornua.com/ Company Profile] ''Ornua''. Retrieved: 20 October 2015.
- Ornua Kerrygold.com. Retrieved: 22 May 2011.
- (2011). "Dairy Produce Marketing Act, 1961". irishstatutebook.ie.
- "Kerrygold Historie". Ornua Deutschland.
- "DAIRY PRODUCE (PRICE STABILISATION) ACT, 1935.".
- "S.I. No. 354/1935 - Butter (Levy and Bounty) Order, 1935.".
- (2015). "The maximalist : the rise and fall of Tony O'Reilly". Gill & Macmillan.
- link. (13 July 2011 ''Kerrygold.com''. Retrieved: 22 May 2011.)
- "Irish Dairy Board votes to change name to Ornua". The Irish Times.
- Addy, Rod. (2 November 2020). "Ornua Foods UK invests £3m in Leek factory".
- [http://www.topagrar.com/news/Rind-Rindernews-1544685.html Irish Dairy Board übernimmt spanischen Käsehersteller] - top agrar online, 9. September 2014
- (2 October 2019). "Irish Butter Kerrygold Has Conquered America's Kitchens". Bloomberg Businessweek.
- (17 May 2011). "IDB by numbers". independent.ie.
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