Accounts filed for Ornua Foods UK, Ornua’s subsidiary business charged with the sale of the co-op’s branded dairy products in the UK, saw operating profits fall 6% last year to £7.9m (€8.9m). The company blamed weaker dairy prices for the drop in profits as margins narrowed to 2.4%. Pre-tax profits fell 5% to £6.8m (€7.6m).

Despite the drop in profits, the company saw its sales edge up by 1% to just under £322m (€363m) in 2018 as sales volumes were maintained.

Ornua said it invested heavily during 2018 in multi-channel marketing campaigns for its key cheese and butter brands in the UK market, Pilgrim’s Choice and Kerrygold.

Pilgrim’s choice is the number two cheddar brand, while Kerrygold is the number three block butter brand in the UK.

Ornua Butter Trading UK, another subsidiary which supplies bulk butter and butteroil to the foodservice sector, reported a 12% drop in operating profits to £446,000 (€503,000) in 2018. Sales were back 18% to £56m (€64m).