When Avonmore Foods plc and Waterford Foods plc merged in 1997 they formed the Avonmore Waterford Group (AWG) plc. The combined entity was the fourth biggest dairy processor in Europe and the fourth biggest cheese producer in the world. In 1999, the business was rebranded and the name changed to Glanbia plc, meaning ‘pure food’ in Irish. Today Glanbia’s processing headquarters are based in Ballyragget, Kilkenny with the head office in Kilkenny. Employing over 6,000 people in 32 countries worldwide it generates over €3bn annually. Products are distributed in over 130 countries and they are listed on the Irish and London stock exchanges.

The spokes of the Glanbia wheel cover a lot of different enterprises, but the one Irish milk producers would be most familiar with would is Glanbia Ingredients Ireland. This entity processes milk from 4,800 suppliers equating to approximately one third of Ireland’s milk pool. Glanbia have been at the forefront of developing financial management schemes for dairy farmers that go some way to managing volatitlity such as Milklfex (loans to farmers) and voluntary fixed milk price schemes that allow farmers fix a portion of supply at a certain price for a period of three to five years.

Glanbia also has a play in the fresh milk sector with their branded milk offering and this is sold under the Avonmore brand. It is widely considered to be one of the most recognisable brand names in Ireland. Animal feeds also make up a large part of Glanbia’s business as they sell the feed under the GAIN brand. GAIN Animal Nutrition is Ireland’s biggest feed selling brand, providing complete nutritional solutions for a wide range of animals including dairy cows, horses, cats, dogs, beef cattle, sheep, pigs, greyhounds and poultry.