Vion Food UK is investing £11.5 million to enhance its processing facilities at Cookstown in Northern Ireland, with the creation of 164 new jobs. The Cookstown facility is the largest pig processing site inNorthern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and among the largest in the UK, producing pork, sausages, bacon and cooked meats.

The company’s investment will enable it to install new equipment, which will improve animal welfare and increase processing capacity. It is also investing in improved chilling technology, as some of the existing chills date back to the original construction of the plant in 1938. Invest Northern Irelandhas offered Vion £960,000, which includes £244,500 of support through its Jobs Fund.

The enhancements to the company’s processing facilities will allow it to become more efficient and increase profitability as well as ensuring that the pigs are handled in the most humane way possible.

Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster pictured with Seamus Carr, managing director of Vion.

As well as selling its products under the Cookstown brand the company, which currently employs over 700 people, supplies major customers such as Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury, ASDA, Henderson Group, Musgrave, Samworth Bros and Dew Valley. With the enhanced processing equipment in place the Vion facility in Cookstown will continue to underpin the future sustainability of the Northern Ireland pig industry.

Seamus Carr, managing director of Vion, says: “Our strategy is to build on the success of the Cookstown brand by investing in our people and in our processes. We anticipate a substantial increase in productivity and sales as a result of this investment. Invest NI’s support has meant we can move forward quickly with the project and ensure the continuing viability of the facility in Cookstown.”

Vion Food UK produces and processes high quality beef, lamb, pork, bacon and chicken as well as a wide range of convenience products such as sausages, cooked meats and added value cooked chicken. It has extensive facilities across the UK from farms and hatcheries to primary production, processing and packing, and supplies products according to customer and market demands. The business is primarily focused on the UK retail market but also includes important foodservice and wholesale clients within its portfolio. Vion Food UK is part of the Netherlands-based Vion Group.

Nampak Plastics Europe has officially opened its bottling facility in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, following investment of £3.2m investment. Plans for the bottle manufacturing plant located at the Dale Farm liquid milk factory in Pennybridge Industrial Estate, were announced last year. Invest NI has offered £254,000 with part funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The in-plant facility, which has already begun production, has the capacity to make more than 100 million bottles a year. As well as servicing Dale Farm’s current production requirements, Nampak will be targeting new customers in the Republic of Ireland. The project has created 20 jobs.

Jamie Tinsley, Nampak’s sales director, says: “This investment is in line with our strategy of securing long-term contracts for large volumes of bottles. We are seeking to broaden our geographical base and recognise that Northern Ireland offers an excellent platform from which to target the Republic of Ireland market as well as servicing the local market. We are confident that this investment will yield a profitable return and will be looking for opportunities to grow our customer base across the island of Ireland.”

Nampak is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of rigid plastic containers for the food and drink industry. The company currently operates from nine sites across the UK including six in-plant (‘through the wall’) operations which are situated on customer sites.

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Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster with Jamie Tinsley, sales director of Nampak Plastics, at the official opening of the new Nampak Plastics Europe facility in Ballymena.

Northern Ireland meat processor Linden Foods has opened a new state-of-the-art retail packing and product development facility in Dungannon. The facilities are the result of a £10m investment by the company which will create 85 new jobs over the next three years bringing Linden’s total employment figure to 520. Invest NI has offered assistance totalling £497,000 part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The new 5,740 sq m premises are located adjacent to the company’s main processing site and include an innovation centre incorporating a development kitchen as well as new preparation, production and dispatch areas. Linden Foods anticipates that as a result of the investment in the new facilities and in new product development the company will be able to increase sales by 32%, most of which will be sold in markets outside Northern Ireland.

“Linden Foods business strategy remains focused on innovation. We are committed to providing our customers with a range of exciting new products that are well ahead of current trends within the food retailing sector,” says Gerry Maguire, managing director of Linden Foods. “This new facility, which includes a dedicated development kitchen where new recipes can be trialled and crafted, is the next natural step for the company’s growth and will allow us to bolster our position as market leader within the meat processing industry.”

Linden Foods is part of the Linden Food Group, which also incorporates Slaney Foods and Irish Country Meats. The group has a turnover of more than £300m and employs 1,100 people across seven sites in Ireland and England.

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Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster is pictured with Trevor Lockhart, chairman of Linden Foods.

The UK Office of Fairy Trading has cleared the proposed acquisition by Dale Farm of the fresh liquid milk business of Fane Valley Co-operative in Northern Ireland for an undisclosed sum. The sale along with the closure of its dairy in Newry marks Fane Valley’s withdrawal from the liquid milk market in Northern Ireland.

Dale Farm is expected to consolidate milk volumes from the acquired business at its Pennybridge site near Ballymena. Fane Valley is continuing with its dairy ingredients and butter processing business at Armaghdown Creameries in Banbridge.

Dale Farm is part of the United Dairy Farmers Group, a dairy co-operative owned by 2,500 farmers who supply it with fresh milk. Dale Farm produces a wide range of dairy products which it sells across the UK and Ireland as well as exporting to over 45 countries world wide.

In March 2010 Dale Farm announced a £40m investment in its three dairy processing plants, the biggest ever local investment in the dairy industry in Northern Ireland.

Moy Park, Northern Ireland’s largest food manufacturer, has officially opened a new turkey processing facility at its site in Ballymena. The £21m world class premises is part of a phased four-year, £37m investment project, supported by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund, which was announced in May 2010 and aims to achieve external sales of £154m by 2013.

The investment has resulted in a 65,000 sq ft factory extension which will allow the company to produce one million fresh turkeys for the Christmas period.  The expansion will secure 150 permanent and 500 seasonal jobs at Moy Park Ballymena, and will also provide secondary employment opportunities for turkey growers to supply the increased capacity.

The new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Ballymena is an important step in allowing Moy Park to increase production capability and develop new added value products.

“This new facility forms a key part of Moy Park’s wider strategy which aims to grow and secure our market position. The highly advanced facility will allow us to meet the needs of new and existing customers while investigating new product concepts and increasing our production of consumer led poultry products for UK and European markets,” says Nigel Dunlop, managing director of Moy Park.

Owned by Brazil-based meat group Marfrig, Moy Park employs around 3,700 people in Northern Ireland and earlier this year acquired rival food group O’Kane Poultry.

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Pictured at the official opening of Moy Park’s £21m turkey processing plant in Ballymena are (l-r): Tony O’Neill, executive director of Moy Park Ballymena; Arlene Foster MLA, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and investment; and Nigel Dunop, chief executive of Moy Park.

Dunbia, the Northern Ireland-based red meat processor, has stated there is no truth surrounding the recent speculation about an alleged takeover bid by Brazilian company, Marfrig. Dunbia co-owner and group managing director, Jim Dobson says: “Recently there has been media speculation that Dunbia is in negotiations with Brazilian meat company, Marfrig. Dunbia can categorically state that the company is not in negotiations with Marfrig or anyone else for that matter, and any assertion to the contrary is entirely untrue.”

He continues: “Dunbia remains privately owned and we are fully committed to the growth and development of our operations in Ireland and the UK. We have strategic investment plans in place to ensure we continue to meet our customers’ requirements and develop new business opportunities.”

Dunbia is one of the UK and Ireland’s leading meat processors employing over 3,200 people across ten sites, and serves retail, food service and export markets. Marfrig is already a major player within the Northern Ireland and wider UK food industry, having acquired poultry group Moy Park in 2008.

Northern Ireland’s £1.5 billion meat industry must work on strategies that will reduce costs and increase its ability to exploit opportunities that will grow in Europe and other global markets over the next decade. The business opportunities and threats, including rising feed and other costs, as well as consumer trends facing the local industry, which employs over 9,000 people, are highlighted in a major study by GIRA, a leading French consultancy specialising in the global meat industry, commissioned by Invest Northern Ireland in conjunction with the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC).

Commenting on the 117-page study, ‘Long-Term Strategic Trends in World Meat Markets 2010-2012’, Ian Murphy, Invest NI’s managing director of clients and entrepreneurship, says: “This is one of the most significant documents that we have produced because meat processing is vitally important here in terms of the scale of its contribution to the local economy, especially rural communities, in areas such as exports, new product development and, of course, employment. Currently the industry contributes around 50 per cent of the £3 billion earned by food processing here.”

He continues: “Ensuring its long-term growth, therefore, is immensely important to Invest Northern Ireland and, of course, to the wider community. What this study does clearly and concisely is highlight the opportunities, particularly in Europe, and the challenges our companies will face increasingly from global competitors from South America, China and the US and from rising input costs such as feed stuffs and energy, as well as from the sharpening focus, particularly among European consumers, on food safety and sustainability.

“Our companies should draw great encouragement, however, from a number of points in the study. There is good news for our companies in terms of the protection provided against competition in the EU with its agri-food and environmental policies.

The study also highlights new business opportunities especially in poultry, one of Northern Ireland’s strengths, pigmeat and beef and the good reputation Northern Irish companies enjoy with key retailers which are increasingly developing their international presence. What companies must do is to redouble their efforts to ensure efficiency, productivity and overall, exports, innovation in areas such as higher value added products for niche markets, and overall competitiveness. For instance, the report identifies the advantage that companies that guarantee food safety through greater control have over their supply chain globally.

“Our commitment is to continue to work with local companies to enable them to apply the relevant points in the study, to harness the opportunities ahead and to overcome the challenges especially in key areas such as costs,” he adds.

Among the key points in the study is the projected continuing growth in poultry products. Demand for most meat products will be driven by rising populations.

While other meats will also continue to grow in sales, poultry will gain the most market share. Poultry is described as the cheapest and easiest of the farmed meats to produce. Demand in the developing world, especially China, will increase for most meat products.

EU growth will favour ‘cheaper, quicker growing species’ with chicken continuing to win market share.

Forces driving change in the industry are likely to include – increasing animal welfare concerns which would mean higher costs, higher oil prices, currency volatility, rising costs as sustainability grows in importance, and nutrition concerns among consumers and governments.

Production in some regions will be impacted adversely by issues such as water shortage and land degradation.

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company’s Irish business has officially opened a new energy efficient bottling plant, computerised warehouse, and community-focused visitors centre at Knockmore Hill, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The €130 million facility employs 600 people and has the capacity to produce a wide range of non-alcoholic beverages for delivery throughout the entire island of Ireland.

The facility operates seven filling lines – four for PET bottles, one for glass, one for cans, and one for post-mix. There is a PET moulding unit with six blow moulders capable of handling 750,000 bottles per day.

In addition, the complex features a fully automated warehouse which not only provides efficient storage and retrieval, but also gives better protection to containers and pallets, improves handling times and ultimately is designed to deliver a ‘perfect’ pallet to customers, and a high quality beverage into the hands of the end consumer.

A key component of the new bottling plant is a combined heat and power (CHP) system, which has been constructed in partnership with ContourGlobal, a leading international company specialising in the development of efficient energy installations.

The CHP plant at Knockmore Hill will cut CO2 emissions at the plant by up to 66% while supplying excess clean electricity to the local power grid. The plant is the fourth to be officially opened and another 11 are under development by ContourGlobal, as part of Coca-Cola Hellenic’s commitment to combating climate change

“Our aim is to cut CO2 emissions by an average of 20% across all 80 of our bottling plants,” says Doros Constantinou, chief executive of Coca-Cola Hellenic.

Coca-Cola Hellenic is one of the world’s largest bottlers of products of The Coca-Cola Company with sales of more than 2 billion unit cases. It has broad geographic reach with operations in 28 countries serving a population of approximately 560 million people.

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Pictured at the opening of facility at Knockmore Hill are (left to right): Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster; First Minister Peter Robinson; Marcel Martin, general manager of Coca-Cola Hellenic for the island of Ireland; Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness; and chief executive of Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, Doras Constantinou.

Northern Ireland’s dairy industry must aim for greater supply chain co-operation, more efficient farms and more added value products, according to a competitiveness study just published. The ‘Northern Ireland Dairy Industry Competitiveness Study’, which was undertaken by Promar International and jointly funded by the industry, DARDNI, and Invest NI, has been welcomed by Dairy UK (Northern Ireland).

The report looks at the future of the NI dairy industry after milk quotas are abolished by the EU in 2015, and outlines the challenges that the sector will face, as well as detailing potential options for the industry.

Dairy UK (NI) chairman, Paul Vernon says: “This is an important report for the NI dairy industry. We know that there will be changes to the CAP over the next few years that will have a significant impact on our industry. This report is an attempt to identify these changes, and suggest strategies that will help ensure that we continue to have a profitable dairy industry in Northern Ireland. The nature of a report such as this is that there will be certain aspects with which not everyone will agree. It is my hope, and that of the Dairy UK (NI) Board, which includes the Ulster Farmers’ Union, that the report will act as a prompt to discussion, and a catalyst for action as our industry faces a challenging decade.”

Some of the recommendations of the report include:

* The dairy supply chain should improve its economies of scale in primary production and processing to achieve lower unit costs, and contribute to improved competitiveness.

* Within the next decade, the industry should aim to have a NI milk pool of at least 2 billion litres per year.

* Existing co-operation at processing level should be developed to enable milk to be manufactured into products that will provide the best returns from markets.

* There should be planned, and sustained investment in R&D to add value to dairy products; to lower costs of producing milk; to improve milk quality; to improve processing efficiency; and to improve packaging.

* The energy costs of the supply chain need to be reduced by 25% over the current decade to make it competitive with other regions of UK and other competitor countries.

“Some of the changes that are needed lie within the remit of individual business owners – at both farm and processing levels – while other challenges must be dealt with at industry level,” comments Dr Mike Johnston, NI director of Dairy UK. “It is our intention to establish an implementation group that is representative of the dairy supply chain, and that will develop those aspects of the report that relate to industry level issues. This group will be responsible to the Board of Dairy UK (NI).”

Having recently received planning permission, poultry processor Moy Park has commenced work on extending the capacity of its site at Ashbourne in Derbyshire, England, by 25%. The expansion and upgrading project involves investment of £10m.

Moy Park, which is Northern Ireland’s largest food manufacturer, recently consolidated its standing within the UK poultry market following its £30m acquisition of O’Kane Poultry. Also based in Northern Ireland, O’Kane Poultry had sales of £132m in 2009 and has the capacity to process 120,000 chickens and 5,000 turkeys a day.

The enlarged Moy Park, which is owned by Brazilian meat company Mafrig, employs 8,500 staff, 5,000 of them in Northern Ireland.

 UK meat processor Linden Foods has recently won a series of awards for innovation and quality across its range of beef, lamb and rose veal products. The company, which forms part of Linden Food Group, supplies its range of products directly to the retail and catering trades.

Linden employs 500 people at its Dungannon plant in Northern Ireland, and has an annual turnover of £115m. Its customers include major retailers and companies within the catering trade throughout the UK and Ireland, such as, Marks & Spencer; Booker, the UK’s largest wholesale cash and carry operator; and web-based gourmet butcher, Donald Russell.

Linden’s Rosemary & Garlic Leg of Lamb won Best New Lamb Product of the year in the prestigious annual Meat Management Awards. Developed specifically for Marks & Spencer’s Christmas specialty range, the product won on the strength of its retail success, quality and focus on the needs of the consumer.

The accolade comes soon after a Gold award in the Best British Burger competition sponsored by EBLEX, the organisation for the English beef and sheep industry.

Pictured are: Gerry Maguire, managing director of Linden Foods, and Elaine Willis, new product development manager of Linden Foods.

Linden was also recently awarded the Supply Chain Initiative Award in the UK-wide Meat & Poultry Processing Awards for its Banquet Royale Rose Veal. The innovative product, which is breaking new ground in the industry, was launched last year following significant investment in development to ensure the highest standards achievable in quality and ethical production. It is currently available at retailers throughout the UK and Ireland, including: Whole Foods Market and Booker.

“Our continued focus on the end-consumer and on adding value through introducing new ingredients and new product innovations has made our beef, lamb, and rose veal products market leaders. These awards are testament to our success in this area,” says Elaine Willis, new product development manager of Linden Foods.

The Linden Food Group is a market leader in the fresh meat processing industry, sourcing and processing top quality beef and lamb for customers throughout Europe. The group has an annual turnover of £300m and consists of four companies: Linden Foods, Slaney Foods, Kettle Irish Foods and Irish Country Meats.