Kerry Group and its milk suppliers’ co-op are locked in arbitration hearings to resolve the seven-year impasse over milk price.

The oral hearing stage of the arbitration began last week and ran for three full days. It will resume this Thursday. Representatives of both sides remain tight-lipped regarding the details and progress of the process, but it is expected to conclude soon, perhaps even on Thursday.

The arbitrator will deliver his findings following the oral hearing, although it could be months rather than weeks before the two sides discover their fate. The co-op is demanding a compensatory payment of 4.5c/l, with the plc only ever offering about 1.5 c/l.

Deep roots

The dispute centres around the milk price Kerry has been paying in recent years, in the context of a commitment given by Stan McCarthy, the former CEO of both Kerry Group and the co-op. In soliciting support from the co-op to reduce its shareholding in the plc, he made a pledge relating to milk price. Kerry Co-op says the words agreed were that Kerry would pay “the leading milk price”. McCarthy has always maintained that it was “a leading milk price”. McCarthy stepped down from his role as Kerry Co-op CEO in 2016, in part due to the dispute over milk price. It is expected his testimony will be a key part of the arbitration hearings, along with negotiators for Kerry Co-op and indeed ICMSA in 2012, as McCarthy’s disputed statement was made at a meeting between ICMSA and Kerry management in Dublin back in 2011.