This article is from page 34 of the 2008-01-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 34 JPG
IN WHAT proved to be a turbulent week for the meat Industry in Ireland, Glanbia finally removed themselves from the once lucrative involvement in the meat industry.
A deal, reported to be worth less than €10 million, is in place to sell the remains of the company’s inter- ests in the meat industry to a man- agement-led consortium.
The company will instead focus more heavily on areas such as cheese, nutritional ingredients and consumer foods with a nutritional emphasis.
Glanbia’s meat business was one of the leading pork slaughterer and processor in Ireland and it processed
1.2 million animals last year. That represents almost half of all the port slaughtered in Ireland in 2007.
Employing 850 people, the busi- ness operates from four facilities in Ireland, including two modern slaughtering plants at Roscrea and and Edenderry.
It also operates the only pork-head boning facility in Ireland in Offaly and a bacon curing and processing facility in Leitrim.
Along with the slaughtering of animals, the company 1s also one of the largest pig-farming operations in Ireland, with 4,500 sows across six ie Nesny
Meanwhile, Teagasc last week an- nounced details of development plan
to strengthen the pig industry in Ire- land.
The plan was compiled after an ex- tensive consultation process with all the main stakeholders in the sector.
The key issues facing the Irish in- dustry are addressed including the competitiveness of Irish pig produc- ers and how it compares to the in- dustry in other European and inter- national countries.
The report found that around 7,000 people are employed in the sector in- cluding about 1,200 on farms. Cur- rently, close to 500 pig producers in Ireland produce 3.6 million pigs annually. The Irish industry exports approximately 60 per cent of its pro- duction and is worth €250 million
annually. The report also states that pork is the most consumed meat in the world accounting for 38 per cent of meat consumption worldwide.
‘“Ireland’s position as a world leader in pig productivity has recently been overtaken by a number of its main competitors,’ said Brendan Lynch, Head of the Teagasc Pig Production Unit.
“A key factor in improving produc- tivity in future is to improve skill levels at farm level.”
During 2007 feed ingredient prices worldwide soared. Typically feed ac- counts for about 70 per cent of the cost of producing a pig and high feed costs in Ireland require very efficient use of feed on the farm.