There are many farmer owned co-ops throughout the country all of which cater for the thousands of farmers operating throughout Ireland.
Farming in an integral part of the Irish community and co-ops take their pride of place in that sector.
The oldest independent farming co-op in Ireland is located in Mullinahone, Co Tipperary. The premises first opened its doors in 1893 and amazingly it has been operating from the same location ever since.
Mullinahone Co-Op is far more than just a place for farmers to send their milk as it has come to be regarded as a one-stop shop for the farming community and for this month’s edition of Irish Tractor & Agri we profile this ever-growing business and take a closer look at the services that they provide with the help of the Co-Op’s CEO Ger Flynn.
The Cork native joined the company as a Financial Controller in 1996 and straight away he could see that this was a business that was eager to move with the times.
“When I first came here, Gerry Barrett and Michael Dwyer were managing the business and both men were very forward thinking and were keen to take the company forward,” said Ger.
The Co-Op is made up of a management team that answers to an elected board of 12 farmer shareholders. Along with the individual managers of its’ business units it has a full time Financial Controller, Sean McGowan and full time IT Manager, Paul Treacy.
“Given the number of business units that we have it is essential that we have a strong financial and IT resource and Sean and Paul form a key part of the overall management of the business”
There are six different sections to the business and they are milk assembly, cheese manufacture, animal identification ear-tags, agri-stores wholesale, oil distribution and a farm retail shop.
First of all, we’ll take a look at milk assembly where today 25 local dairy farmers supply all of their milk to the co-op.
“In 1993, the year the co-op celebrated its’ 100th birthday, we had 56 milk suppliers but over the years this number has declined. Today our 25 milk suppliers produce approximately 11 million litres and with one exception they are all spring calving herds” revealed Ger.
Ger is quick to highlight the support that is given to the co-op by Glanbia. “Glanbia collect all of our milk and we have for many years benefited from the close relationship that we have particularly in the areas of improving herd management and milk quality.”
The cheese manufactured at the co-op trades under the brand Compsey Creamery and this part of the business was set up in 1985 and it has grown significantly over the years to where it is now producing 55-60 tonnes of product per week.
“We produce cottage and soft cheese, yoghurt (natural & Greek), sour cream, crème fraiche and mascarpone cheese. This is all manufactured for the food service and food ingredient sectors with two thirds of production being exported to the U.K, France and Spain. The factory is BRC accredited and much credit for this must go to Ann Langley our QA Manager and the genuine interest and pride that all of our cheese production staff take in this business.”
“This end of the business adds value to the milk. It can be a challenging business due to the ongoing volatility of milk prices and currency movements, but we have cornered a niche in the market that works for us.”
A key business for the co-op operates under the name of Eurotags and this business is managed by Liam Egan.
Eurotags supplies all of the official bovine animal identification ear-tags for Southern Ireland under a contract with the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine. In addition Eurotags supplies approximately 50% of the official identification ear-tags for sheep.
Ger is quick to acknowledge the role of Liam Egan in the management of this business. “Over the years Liam and his team have responded and adapted very well to the changing demands of official animal identification ear-tags in this country.”
Ger highlighted the introduction of a tissue sampling ear-tag as part of the National BVD eradication programme and the key role Liam played working very closely with the many interested parties in ensuring the success of this programme.
“In recent years Liam has overseen the introduction of official electronic ear-tags on a voluntary basis for bovine animals and the launching of a website http://tags.mullinahonecoop.iewhere farmers can now order their official ear-tags online.”
“The Eurotags business has significantly raised the profile of Mullinahone Co-op. Year on year we have direct contact with every farmer in the country”.
Another business that has given the co-op a significant national profile is it’s Agri-stores wholesale business. This business is managed by local man Liam O Brien, the business has a long history in sourcing Irish made products and the importation of a wide range of agri-products from abroad and wholesaling them throughout the 32 counties of Ireland.
“Our product range is significant consisting of established and developing brands. We have a team of four sales managers on the road who are supported by our sales office, warehousing and repairs service staff”. Farm requisites are supplied to all Co-op stores and a large number of private Agri/Hardware stores nationwide for sale to farmers on a daily basis. A strong ingredient of this business is service to the customer “everything we sell we service”
The co-ops retail agri-store sells all of the products that are distributed by the wholesale business together with many of the other items that a farmer requires in the day to day running of his farm business.
”Lar McGrath and Breda Brennan man our agristore and they are very popular with our local farmer customers and endeavour to provide a good service to all customers”.
All your home heating and agri diesel needs are also catered for at the co-op as since 1981 the co-op has operated an oil distribution business for the people of the locality.
“Up to this year, local man Dick Egan was the main driving force behind this business. Following his retirement another local man Kieran Gahan has taken over from Dick. We deliver home heating oil and agri diesel to a customer base within a 20-mile radius of our oil depot.”
In total there is a team of 75 people employed by Mullinahone Co-Op and each and every one of them play their part in the on-going success of this unique business.
In conclusion Ger says that “Everyone past and present has made a contribution in the development of this business. A key part of our success is that we are fortunate that we have a very progressive board of management who are very supportive of management in the ongoing development of the co-op.”
Mullinahone Co-operative Dairy Society Limited,
Mullinahone,
Thurles,
Co. Tipperary.
Main Office
Tel: +353 52 915 3900
Fax: +353 52 915 3285
E-mail: [email protected]
Eurotags
Tel: +353 52 915 3102
Fax: +353 52 915 3512
E-mail: [email protected]
Compsey Creamery
Tel: +353 52 915 3917
Fax: +353 52 915 3955
E-mail: [email protected]
Opening Hours
Mon-Fri
9.00am-1.00pm
2.00pm-5.30pm
Group Websites
tags.mullinahonecoop.ie
www.mullinahonecoop.ie
www.compsey.ie
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 3, March 2016
