There was a major announcement of a merger between the Irish co-ops Lakeland and Lacpatrick. The two co-ops are based around the border region and have a combined 3,200 milk suppliers with an overall pool of 1.8bn litres. This will make the new merged co-op the second biggest in Ireland after Glanbia.
As both co-ops operate in the border region it seems to make sense to combine to alleviate the possible barriers on a potential border provided by Brexit. This will also provide a great opportunity to increase exports due to the large upscale in operations which will make them a bigger global player. The increased scale of efficiencies may be needed for Irish co-ops to stay competitive in the growing export markets. The likes of Denmark, Netherlands and New Zealand divert their milk production to ‘super co-ops’ for example. The director of Dairy Industry Ireland, Conor Mulvihill, said in an interview with the Irish Independent that further integration across the Irish dairy industry is inevitable.
Catherine’s role is Technical Assistant and she is one of the newer members of the Ingredient Solutions team. Catherine recently graduated in Food Science and Innovation at WIT and is motivated, positive and enjoys working in a team. Catherine says, “I always see the good in every challenge that approaches me as they can lead to opportunities to learn more.” She is looking forward to focusing on the areas that she can control and learning how to perfect them.
Ted is the Factory Manager, he is the man that keeps everything running smoothly, supporting production and technical operations. He ensures that all the machinery within the factory functions at maximum efficiency and is properly maintained.
Suma has worked for Ingredient Solutions for two years as Technical Manager – leading the technical team. Before working for Ingredient Solutions, Suma worked in Asia, the Middle East and Europe and has over twenty years experience in management and leadership in food and other industries.
Pina is our UK Sales Support Administrator and has worked for Ingredient Solutions since 2012. She works alongside Gary Davies and the sales team providing them with sales information and supporting the team especially when they are on the road. Pina works remotely for Ingredient Solutions from her base in Luton in the UK.
Marek is based near Lublin, that’s not a typo we don’t mean Dublin, he’s our man on the ground in Eastern Europe.
