Full commitment from Irish dairy farmers and processing companies is needed to help the National Dairy Council achieve its objectives, CEO Zoe Kavanagh has said. With the onslaught of vegan activists, animal rights protesters and challenges in relation to dairy consumption among image-conscious teenagers, the Irish dairy brand needs all the help it can get.
However, not all co-ops are 100% committed to the levy funding structure. There is a €2m income gap that could be used to leverage more money from the European Union to fund campaigns and research.
The NDC levy, which is funded at 0.007c/l, totalled €3.2m in 2017 and it will reach a similar figure for 2018, Kavanagh said. However, if the full 7.4bn-litre milk pool from Ireland was contributing to the levy, the income would be €5.18m.
“In some co-ops you have 100% commitment by 100% of the members, in other co-ops you have a commitment but not all of the members comply with it,” Kavanagh told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The levy accounts for 35% of the NDC’s overall income, with the rest coming from three shared EU marketing programmes.
“Climate change, nutrition and animal welfare are the three workstreams the NDC and its equivalents at a European and international level will have to do a lot of communication and marketing around [over the next five years]. It is communication which needs to be underpinned by research.”
Research carried out by the European Milk Forum shows that consumer concerns around climate change centre around energy, transport and then food. In terms of food, the big concerns are food waste and plastic.
“What we all recognise is we have a collective responsibility to make sure where it comes to dairy it is being done in a sustainable and responsible manner. We need to be sure the consumer is confident when they purchase a dairy product, that the product is good for their intrinsic health and for the environment as well,” the NDC chief executive said.
NDC's partnership with Irish Hockey: student May McGlew, Roisin Upton, Jeanne Spillane NDC, Elena Tice and student Grace Walsh.
For Irish farmers, this means communicating with the consumer about how there are constant improvements in efficiencies around soil, water, grass and nutrient management. The NDC’s role, now that it has moved away from promotion of just liquid milk to the entire dairy portfolio, is to make sure that the credentials of the domestic market stand up to scrutiny.
“I would strongly argue that when you get into the nutritional benefits, responsible climate approach and animal welfare, they are topics that absolutely leave the borders of the island of Ireland. That is an international story.
“I think our role is to ensure those reputation drags and drivers are managed correctly and the communication around that so the export business can grow.”
Such is the noise around plant-based eating groups, that in Canada the government has just reduced its recommendation of dairy intake from three-a-day to two-a-day. Ireland has a dedicated shelf on the food pyramid to dairy, and Kavanagh believes it is the NDC’s role to continually outline the health benefits of dairy to policy makers.
“One of the challenges for dairy is that because we don’t have enough brands of the stature of Kerrygold, throwing off a decent margin, the investment in marketing is lower. When we come to a time like we are at today, where we have competitive challenges from plant-based beverages and other products, we are definitely being outspent. The NDC is pre-competitive, we are the category voice of the total portfolio.
“The missed opportunity is that we are not 100% supported and we do not have €5m to do the work that we do. The constant challenge we have is that lack of firing power to have that activity in the marketplace around the key issues active across the year and not just going into these little bursts of campaigns.”
NDC membership
Full members (voluntary levy payment): Aurivo, Arrabawn, Bandon, Barryroe, Boherbue, Callan, Centenary Thurles, Clona, Drinagh, Glanbia, Kerry, LacPatrick, Lee Strand, Lisavaird, Mullinahone, North Cork.Associate members (fixed-sum contribution): Ornua, Dairygold.Non-members: Lakeland, Tipperary Co-op. Read more
Veganism is a proxy for eating disorders – NDC chief
Rob Kearney tackles dairy misconceptions
Full commitment from Irish dairy farmers and processing companies is needed to help the National Dairy Council achieve its objectives, CEO Zoe Kavanagh has said. With the onslaught of vegan activists, animal rights protesters and challenges in relation to dairy consumption among image-conscious teenagers, the Irish dairy brand needs all the help it can get.
However, not all co-ops are 100% committed to the levy funding structure. There is a €2m income gap that could be used to leverage more money from the European Union to fund campaigns and research.
The NDC levy, which is funded at 0.007c/l, totalled €3.2m in 2017 and it will reach a similar figure for 2018, Kavanagh said. However, if the full 7.4bn-litre milk pool from Ireland was contributing to the levy, the income would be €5.18m.
“In some co-ops you have 100% commitment by 100% of the members, in other co-ops you have a commitment but not all of the members comply with it,” Kavanagh told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The levy accounts for 35% of the NDC’s overall income, with the rest coming from three shared EU marketing programmes.
“Climate change, nutrition and animal welfare are the three workstreams the NDC and its equivalents at a European and international level will have to do a lot of communication and marketing around [over the next five years]. It is communication which needs to be underpinned by research.”
Research carried out by the European Milk Forum shows that consumer concerns around climate change centre around energy, transport and then food. In terms of food, the big concerns are food waste and plastic.
“What we all recognise is we have a collective responsibility to make sure where it comes to dairy it is being done in a sustainable and responsible manner. We need to be sure the consumer is confident when they purchase a dairy product, that the product is good for their intrinsic health and for the environment as well,” the NDC chief executive said.
NDC's partnership with Irish Hockey: student May McGlew, Roisin Upton, Jeanne Spillane NDC, Elena Tice and student Grace Walsh.
For Irish farmers, this means communicating with the consumer about how there are constant improvements in efficiencies around soil, water, grass and nutrient management. The NDC’s role, now that it has moved away from promotion of just liquid milk to the entire dairy portfolio, is to make sure that the credentials of the domestic market stand up to scrutiny.
“I would strongly argue that when you get into the nutritional benefits, responsible climate approach and animal welfare, they are topics that absolutely leave the borders of the island of Ireland. That is an international story.
“I think our role is to ensure those reputation drags and drivers are managed correctly and the communication around that so the export business can grow.”
Such is the noise around plant-based eating groups, that in Canada the government has just reduced its recommendation of dairy intake from three-a-day to two-a-day. Ireland has a dedicated shelf on the food pyramid to dairy, and Kavanagh believes it is the NDC’s role to continually outline the health benefits of dairy to policy makers.
“One of the challenges for dairy is that because we don’t have enough brands of the stature of Kerrygold, throwing off a decent margin, the investment in marketing is lower. When we come to a time like we are at today, where we have competitive challenges from plant-based beverages and other products, we are definitely being outspent. The NDC is pre-competitive, we are the category voice of the total portfolio.
“The missed opportunity is that we are not 100% supported and we do not have €5m to do the work that we do. The constant challenge we have is that lack of firing power to have that activity in the marketplace around the key issues active across the year and not just going into these little bursts of campaigns.”
NDC membership
Full members (voluntary levy payment): Aurivo, Arrabawn, Bandon, Barryroe, Boherbue, Callan, Centenary Thurles, Clona, Drinagh, Glanbia, Kerry, LacPatrick, Lee Strand, Lisavaird, Mullinahone, North Cork.Associate members (fixed-sum contribution): Ornua, Dairygold.Non-members: Lakeland, Tipperary Co-op. Read more
Veganism is a proxy for eating disorders – NDC chief
Rob Kearney tackles dairy misconceptions
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: