THE HUMBLE IRISH Dairy Board has unveiled its “new global corporate identity” on the eve of EU dairy quotas being scrapped.
The dairy co-operative is being rebranded as Ornua – based on the Irish for “new gold” – as it gets ready for a major export drive on the back of the planned extra milk production.
It said the name both “links to Irish heritage” and its iconic Kerrygold brand, while the title was “easy to pronounce” – an important consideration for its trade across 110 countries.
The shift to Ornua will be the second time the co-op, Ireland’s biggest dairy exporter, has gone through a name change in its 54-year history.
The government first set up An Bord Bainne in 1961, but it was rebranded under the English translation - Irish Dairy Board – in 1994 after earlier becoming a co-op.
In a corporate video explaining the change, Ornua said: “Our identity no longer reflects who we are and, more importantly, where we are going.”
Right now it’s time to change how the world sees us. We need to create a new identity that’s rooted in our heritage with a vision guiding our future.”
Quotas scrapped tomorrow
EU milk quotas – which capped production across the region – will be scrapped tomorrow and local output is expected to increase 50% by 2020.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has already been forced to fend off suggestions the change will lead to a reduction in the number of farmers as dairy operations are consolidated into bigger, more profitable businesses.
Ornua chief executive Kevin Lane said the business had been building its global infrastructure ahead of the quotas been dropped.
It has been expanding operations in the US, Germany, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Spain for processing its products.
Kerrygold is already the number-one butter brand in Germany and the third-biggest in the US, where its Dubliner cheese is the most-popular cheddar.
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