Glanbia Cheese

The Group has a 51% interest in Glanbia Cheese which is a joint venture with Leprino Foods, USA. The business produces mozzarella cheese for the European pizza market in shredded, ribbon and string formats and is Europe’s No.1 supplier of mozzarella cheese to the foodservice and retail pizza sector. Glanbia Cheese employs 350 people at three sites, which includes two cheese processing facilities in the UK.

Glanbia Cheese’s performance in 2008 showed a marked improvement over 2007, as the business fully recovered the milk cost inflation experienced in the second half of 2007. However, the external operating environment disimproved in the second half of 2008 as a result of the weakness in the global economy and its detrimental knock-on effect both on consumer confidence and demand. Despite the difficult market conditions Glanbia Cheese delivered margin growth in 2008.

2009 Outlook

Glanbia Cheese is well positioned to deal with the significant challenges anticipated in 2009. A combination of efficiency benefits and an improved sales mix underpins volume growth, which is supported by increased consumption trends in quick foodservice markets

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Leprino Foods