Any dilution of Ireland’s 95% grass-fed dairy standard would put the industry on the road to decline and would devalue the benefit of the standard, commercial director of Ornua Europe Tim Casey has said.
He told those in attendance at Dairy Day 2026: “It’s very important to hold on to that and to strictly hold on to that and defend it.
“I can’t emphasise enough the distinctiveness that that brings to the value of the Kerrygold brand to the Irish dairy industry.
“It is massively, massively important and, ultimately, Kerrygold really created that grass-fed sector in dairy, after 60 years, after a lot of investment.
"A huge amount of investment has gone into it. It is unique, it is something we should be really proud of and it does stand out.
“Consumers, at end of the day, determine what’s on the shelves in the supermarkets, so it has to be something that they are prepared to pay for and prepared to pay more for,” he said.
Retailers are very aware of that, so they back brands consumers want and it ultimately delivers that value back to the members and to the farmers as well, Casey said.
Distinctive
“It’s very important to have that distinctive stand-out difference in what could be a commoditised market,” he said.
When asked if there should be any adjustment to the 95% grass-fed standard, Casey said the standard is there for a reason.
“If you can’t hold true to that standard and you start to dilute that, well then where do you draw the line? I think it’s really important,” he said.
Commenting on the drought this year, he said that Ornua needed to divert some product as it “wasn’t the spec for Kerrygold”.
“So that had to be diverted into other channels. Once you start diluting the spec and diluting standard of grass-fed, then I think you’re on the road to decline and really devaluing that benefit that you had in the first place.”
