Milk suppliers to Kerry Dairy Ireland (KDI) will not be required to invest in shares in the co-op.

Under the new milk supply contract posted to suppliers this week, they are only required to be shareholders in Kerry Co-op Creameries (KCC).

This contrasts with the previous position held by the co-op at the time of the buyout from Kerry PLC.

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At that time, it was stated that suppliers would need to invest 1c/l starting in 2026 until a sum of 5c/l was collected.

All existing milk suppliers are already shareholders in KCC, having received one share from the co-op in recent years.

The new contracts come into place on 1 May after the existing contract expires and suppliers have until 4 August 2026 to sign the contract.

The contract is of indefinite duration, but suppliers who wish to leave the co-op must give 12 months’ notice of this decision and not before 2030.

This means those who sign the contract are committing to supplying KDI until at least 2030 but after that can leave at any point provided they give 12 months’ notice.

Another change is that there are no contracted volumes per supplier

The key change between this contract and the previous contract is that there is no mention of leading milk price – an enormously contentious clause which was included in the current contract.

Another change is that there are no contracted volumes per supplier.

By signing the contract suppliers are committing to sending all of their milk to KDI, although a spokesperson for the processor confirmed that existing dual suppliers and those with on-farm processing can continue with their current arrangement.

KDI has also opened the door for a change to how it announces milk price

Other notable inclusions in the contract is the option for KDI to insist on the grass-fed standard and to be able to terminate contracts in the event of a supplier bringing the processor into disrepute.

KDI has also opened the door for a change to how it announces milk price, retaining the right to declare in advance what the milk price will be.

This is instead of the current practice of retrospectively announcing milk price. It is expected that a new name for the co-op will be announced in the middle of May.