Sales at Moy Park, the Armagh-headquartered poultry processor reached €2.4bn (£2.04bn) in 2023, up 9% on the previous year.

Profit before tax surged to €84.3m (£70.3m) compared with €22.4m (£18.7m) the previous year.

There was a significant restructuring during the year, which saw a reduction in the workforce of 641 to just under 9,000 across 12 sites across Britain, France and the Netherlands.

Moy Park is owned by US poultry giant Pilgrim’s Pride in which the major shareholder is JBS, the world’s largest meat processor.

It is also the owner of what was the consumer foods division of Kerry Group, which included the Galtee and Denny’s brands.

Earlier this year, Pilgrim’s Pride decided to merge Moy Park, Pilgrim’s Food Masters and Pilgrim’s UK into one unit, Pilgrim’s Europe. This combined group has over 40 locations in Britain, France, the Netherlands and the island of Ireland and has a combined 20,000 employees.

Meanwhile, Manor Farm and Aldi have announced a contract extension for a further year for the supply of poultry products.

The deal is worth €24m and continues a trading relationship that goes back to 2011 with Aldi’s 162 Irish stores.

Manor Farm is a long-established poultry processor based in Cavan and employs over 900 people with 140 farmer suppliers in Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, Meath and Limerick.

From left: Cathal Garvey, CEO, Manor Farm, Fiona Twomey, global retail specialist, Bord Bia and Peter Bough, buying director, ALDI Ireland.