Carbery Group, the west Cork-based global cheese and whey producer, added €3 million to a rainy-day fund for its suppliers in 2025 as global milk prices began to tumble in the second half of the year.
The milk processor and multinational food group also said it expects energy price increases to have a “material impact” on its cost base this year and is taking steps to minimise the financial impact of ongoing global volatility.
Carbery, which is owned by four dairy co-operatives in Cork, is expecting a “challenging” year for farmers in 2026 but remains confident in the diversity of its business, chief executive Jason Hawkins said.
Hawkins was commenting on the Dubliner cheese maker’s 2025 annual report, which revealed a more than 4 per cent decline in operating profits to €23.8 million.
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The group processed 608.8 million litres of milk at its Ballineen facility, its second-highest volume on record.
However, Carbery reported a 3 per cent decline in group Ebita (earnings before interest, taxes, and amortisation) to €29.7 million, due to softer milk prices in the second half of the year.
“Our nutrition and taste businesses delivered significant profit growth in 2025, while our dairy business also performed strongly,” Hawkins said.
“Continued demand in whey protein, particularly across sports, clinical and active nutrition, alongside progress in our global flavours business, helped offset weaker dairy market returns later in the year.”
In a statement attached to the annual report, Carbery Group chairman Vincent O’Donovan said 2025 was a strong year for milk prices overall, particularly in the first half of the year.
“Markets in the back half of the year were not where we would have liked them to be, but overall the average milk price returned to farmer shareholders in 2025 was 47.44cpl [cent per litre],” he said.
[ Higher fertiliser and fuel costs could halve Irish dairy farm margins this yearOpens in new window ]
Milk prices cratered in the second half of 2025 and continued to fall in early 2026, due to a sizeable global milk glut but have stabilised somewhat in recent weeks.
Carbery said the strong revenue growth recorded last year allowed it to pump an additional €3 million into its “stability fund”.
The fund, which stood at €11.6 million at the end of 2025, will be used to make payments to Carbery’s milk suppliers “at a future date” when it is “required to lessen the impact of adverse milk price payments”, according to the report.
Carbery did not draw down from the fund last year but made support payments totalling €1.3 million to its supplier co-ops in 2024.
The global taste and nutrition group is owned by the Drinagh, Bandon, Barryroe, and Lisavaird dairy co-ops and operates 12 facilities in eight countries, including in the US, Brazil and Indonesia.
Last year, Carbery completed the acquisition of Solutaste, a flavours and ingredients manufacturer and distribution company based in São Paulo, Brazil.
The deal is worth up to €13.2 million, according to a note in the annual report, comprising €9.5 million up front in cash, €983,000 in acquisition costs, and €2.7 million in “deferred” future payments.
Carbery is also set to open a “significantly expanded production facility” in Brazil this year, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the board highlighted the impact of recent geopolitical developments on global energy prices.
As a “major user of energy”, Carbery said it expects energy price movements to have a “material impact” on its cost base and is “closely monitoring the situation” to “minimise the financial impact”.
