ABP has announced that it is its “intention to cease retail packing” at its ABP Linden retail packing facility in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, and that it has “entered a formal consultation process with the 338 colleagues whose jobs are at risk”.
The company has also said that it “will seek to minimise the impact on those who are affected and this would include redeployment where possible”.
The retail packing factory is part of the Linden Foods business that was acquired by ABP in 2021, having operated previously as a joint venture between ABP and Fane Valley.
It is located in the Granville Industrial Estate in Dungannon where ABP Linden also operates an abattoir and deboning operation at a separate location in the same industrial estate.
ABP has said that it will continue to "receive and process cattle and sheep as usual and the jobs in this separate facility are not impacted".
ABP has two other locations in Northern Ireland that process cattle and sheep: in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Newry, Co Down, plus Kettyle Irish Foods in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh. These businesses are not affected by this announcement.
Reasons for the decision
ABP said that the decision is due to “changes in the UK landscape [which] have led to the difficult but necessary requirement to consolidate and reduce the number of our retail packing facilities situated within the UK including Northern Ireland”.
It said that the company is facing a "challenging and changing UK and global market place for beef and lamb. Streamlining our operations is a necessity to achieve operational efficiencies, maintain our competitiveness and strengthen our business for the long term.”
Linden Foods, part of the ABP group since 2021.
ABP has said that it is “providing support to all colleagues at risk of redundancy within the ABP Linden retail packing facility [and] this will include exploring opportunities for redeployment or relocation”.
It also said that it will “continue to focus on developing future opportunities for the sale of Northern Irish beef and lamb within the UK and further afield".
Falling kill
As has been the case south of the border, the numbers of both cattle and sheep processed in Northern Ireland declined last year.
The cattle kill was down 4.9% compared with 2024 at 491,282 head, while the number of sheep was down 10.5% to 403,536 head, Livestock and Meat Commission data shows.
In Britain, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board reports that 94,000 fewer cattle were processed to the end of November 2025, a 4.8% decline on the previous year, while in the Republic of Ireland, the number of cattle slaughtered was down 11.7% compared with the previous year to just under 1.6 million head, according to Bord Bia.
In Britain, there was over 200,000 fewer sheep processed up to the end of November 2025, a decline of almost 2% compared with the same period in 2024.
The number of sheep processed in Republic of Ireland also declined in 2025, down 445,000 head, Bord Bia data shows.
ABP has announced that it is its “intention to cease retail packing” at its ABP Linden retail packing facility in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, and that it has “entered a formal consultation process with the 338 colleagues whose jobs are at risk”.
The company has also said that it “will seek to minimise the impact on those who are affected and this would include redeployment where possible”.
The retail packing factory is part of the Linden Foods business that was acquired by ABP in 2021, having operated previously as a joint venture between ABP and Fane Valley.
It is located in the Granville Industrial Estate in Dungannon where ABP Linden also operates an abattoir and deboning operation at a separate location in the same industrial estate.
ABP has said that it will continue to "receive and process cattle and sheep as usual and the jobs in this separate facility are not impacted".
ABP has two other locations in Northern Ireland that process cattle and sheep: in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Newry, Co Down, plus Kettyle Irish Foods in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh. These businesses are not affected by this announcement.
Reasons for the decision
ABP said that the decision is due to “changes in the UK landscape [which] have led to the difficult but necessary requirement to consolidate and reduce the number of our retail packing facilities situated within the UK including Northern Ireland”.
It said that the company is facing a "challenging and changing UK and global market place for beef and lamb. Streamlining our operations is a necessity to achieve operational efficiencies, maintain our competitiveness and strengthen our business for the long term.”
Linden Foods, part of the ABP group since 2021.
ABP has said that it is “providing support to all colleagues at risk of redundancy within the ABP Linden retail packing facility [and] this will include exploring opportunities for redeployment or relocation”.
It also said that it will “continue to focus on developing future opportunities for the sale of Northern Irish beef and lamb within the UK and further afield".
Falling kill
As has been the case south of the border, the numbers of both cattle and sheep processed in Northern Ireland declined last year.
The cattle kill was down 4.9% compared with 2024 at 491,282 head, while the number of sheep was down 10.5% to 403,536 head, Livestock and Meat Commission data shows.
In Britain, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board reports that 94,000 fewer cattle were processed to the end of November 2025, a 4.8% decline on the previous year, while in the Republic of Ireland, the number of cattle slaughtered was down 11.7% compared with the previous year to just under 1.6 million head, according to Bord Bia.
In Britain, there was over 200,000 fewer sheep processed up to the end of November 2025, a decline of almost 2% compared with the same period in 2024.
The number of sheep processed in Republic of Ireland also declined in 2025, down 445,000 head, Bord Bia data shows.
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