Goodman to buy 50% of C&D Foods

By Liam O'Neill

Larry Goodman's Irish Food Processors (IFP) has taken a 50% stake in C&D Foods, the pet food company founded by former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

The deal, which will allow C&D to immediately invest €30 million in a state of the art 'Pouche' single pet food facility at its canning site in Longford that was destroyed by fire in January 2006, was described as "great news'' by C&D director, Philip Reynolds.

"Following the uncertainty arising from the 2006 fire, this is great news for C&D, our employees and for the town of Longford,'' Reynolds said on Tuesday.

"In Irish Food Processors, we have a partner who understands our business and with whom we share numerous customers in the retail sector''.

Larry Goodman said,"We are very pleased to become associated with C&D Foods, as it is one of Europe's leading operators in the pet food sector.

"Philip Reynolds has done a great job steering the company through a very difficult phase, and he is now in a position to embark on an ambitious development that will see C&D become a major player in petfood'', he added.

This is a logical move for both companies, as they both have an interest in the pet food industry. Irish Food Processors operates under Munster Proteins in Cahir, Co Tipperary. The investment will enable C&D to broaden its scope, both in terms of its product offering and its geographical presence.

C&D Foods was established by the Reynolds family in 1969. It has since developed into one of the largest manufacturers of own-label wet pet food in Ireland and England. It supplies pet food to the Irish, British and European markets from its plant at Edgeworthstown, Co Longford. For the year ended 31 December 2006, the company reported sales of €60 million and a profit after tax of €5.6 million.

Irish Food Processors is the leading beef processor in Ireland and Britain, with twenty eight plants. It employs around 3,500 people and is reported to have a turnover in excess of €1.2 billion.

As well as its core activity in beef processing, the company's operations include fresh and frozen beef burger production, consumer-ready chilled products and a major frozen sausage production unit.

It is also developing a leading position in the production of bio-diesel through its Agri-Energy division. Over the past 18 months, the group has acquired twelve used collection oil businesses in Britain, and is now both the largest collector of used collection oil and largest producer of tallow in Britain and Ireland.

The company is planning to blend these materials to produce a low carbon biodiesel product from 2009.

Tipperary open new cheese facility

One of the first projects to be completed under the Government-backed Dairy Investment Fund is to be officially opened this Thursday by Minister Mary Coughlan.

The Tipperary Co-op was awarded €5.44 million of grant aid for a €13.6 million Emmental cheese project. The capital investment involved the upgrading, modernising and expansion of Tipperary Co-op's Emmental cheese factory, significantly increasing its capacity and ensuring better returns from the market.

There was a total of 19 projects, for which the government committed €114 million.

The capital spent on the projects was estimated to be €286 million.

The Dairy Investment Fund is a key element of the plan for the agri-food sector as set out in the AgriVision 2015 Action Plan.