Carbery Group Limited, the cheese and whey company operating out of Ballineen in west Cork, is set to process a significant proportion of the milk that was due to be processed by North Cork Creameries at its plant in Kanturk.
The move to take the milk by Carbery, which is owned by Drinagh, Lisavaird, Bandon and Barryroe co-ops, was confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal by a spokesperson for Carbery.
Neither interim CEO of North Cork Michael Cronin nor chair of North Cork Thomas O’Donoghue could be contacted on Friday for comment.
However, the Irish Farmers Journal understands that staff at the Kanturk plant were informed of the changes to processing at the site on Thursday.
The Irish Farmers Journal also understands that the deal with Carbery is for an interim basis only until such time as the waste water treatment plant at North Cork Creameries is fully functional.
Suppliers
North Cork Creameries purchases milk from their own suppliers based in the Kanturk region and have another group of suppliers in the Moyvane area in Co Kerry, former suppliers to Newtownsandes Co-op.
The co-op also buys in a significant proportion of its milk pool from non-shareholders, including suppliers to Limerick Liquid Milk Producers Co-op and Strathroy, with these agreements set to continue in 2026.
North Cork Creameries paid the lowest price for milk in 2025, while Carbery paid the highest price, according to the Irish Farmers Journal monthly milk league.
It remains to be seen what impact the deal with Carbery will have on milk price for North Cork suppliers in 2026.
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