Having joined the company over 38 years ago, MacSweeney has been the steady hand that has built Carbery into the business it is today.

Under his leadership the group has expanded to employ close to 600 people, operating from eight locations including, the UK, the USA, Brazil and Thailand with a turnover of €340m and profits of €37m in 2016.

It has been one of the great success stories not only of the Irish dairy industry, but of Irish agribusiness. Under his direction, it has not forgotten its farmer roots, consistently returning profits through the payment of leading milk prices in Ireland – much to the envy of many other co-op boards.

Growth

Owned by the four west Cork co-ops, Barryroe, Bandon, Lisavaird and Drinagh, not only is its Ballineen facility the largest single cheese-producing site in Ireland, with almost 25% of Ireland’s annual cheese output, but also Carbery has extended into whey proteins and ingredients which end up in infant formula, sports and clinical nutrition and other functional foods.

However, it will most likely be Carbery’s move into added value flavours for which MacSweeney will be most remembered and credited for. From what can only be described as a cross roads in west Cork, it embarked on an ambitious acquisition strategy in the 1990s in the UK, USA, South America and Asia.

This ultimately built the hugely successful high margin international flavours business, Synergy. But true to its co-op roots, the unique Carbery Group structure allowed the profits from this business to essentially channel back to the co-op owners and ultimately farmer suppliers through the milk price.

Speaking exclusively to the Irish Farmers Journal, MacSweeney said it has been a privilege and honour working with the Carbery Group and that it has been exciting building and developing the business over that time.

He says he is confident in the Carbery business model and has no doubt the group will continue to grow and develop in the years ahead and continue to deliver for west Cork milk suppliers.

Chair of Carbery Group, Dermot O’Leary, said the company is now undertaking a process to identify a successor.

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