Financial results for Kilkenny Cheese, the 50:50 joint venture between Tirlán and Dutch processor Royal A-Ware, showed that sales of cheese products increased by over 50% to €260m in 2025.

The results, which were included in Royal A-ware’s annual report, showed the maker of continental cheese had a profit before tax of €6.28m in the year, an increase of 18% on 2024.

Kilkenny Cheese also had “other comprehensive income” of €4.6m, bringing total income to €10.1 for the year.

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A spokesperson for Tirlán said: “Operational performance improved significantly in 2025, though profits were impacted by the wider downturn in continental cheese prices.

“The Belview plant produced over 50,000t of edam and gouda in 2025.

“Output will expand further in 2026, with additional variants, including low-salt and reduced-salt formats and higher volumes of small-format blocks,” the spokesperson said.

All cheese produced by Kilkenny Cheese in 2025 was sold to Royal A-Ware, while Tirlán purchased the whey stream. The Royal A-Ware accounts show purchases of €201m from Kilkenny Cheese during the year, suggesting that Tirlán purchased approximately €60m of whey from the plant.

Future operations

Tirlán’s whey processing facility is due to start production in 2027, which will allow the co-op to produce higher-value whey protein isolate (WPI) which should provide a better return than the whey protein concentrate (WPC) currently produced by the co-op. Tirlán has also started buying some cheese from Kilkenny Cheese in 2026.

Tirlán assumed operational control of Kilkenny Cheese this year, with Kieran Fitzgerald appointed as CEO and Ray Downey appointed as finance director.

The spokesperson for Tirlán said: “The facility played a critical role during peak [milk supply weeks], allowing Tirlán to manage record milk supply in 2025 by processing over 12m peak-week litres.”

As a 50:50 standalone joint venture, Kilkenny Cheese has its own management and is responsible for servicing its debt repayments and running costs.

This means that its share of the capital costs involved in the construction and commissioning of the plant do not sit on the balance sheet of Tirlán.