Car advertising Kerrygold Butter in Denver |
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| Type | Agricultural marketing cooperative |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food retail |
| Predecessor | Butter Marketing Committee |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Founder(s) | Government of Ireland |
| Headquarters | Grattan House, Mount Street |
| Area served | Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America |
| Revenue | €2 billion[1] |
| Website | www.idb.ie |
The Irish Dairy Board (Irish: An Bord Bainne) is a state-backed agricultural marketing cooperative in Ireland. The firm owns the globally famous Kerrygold butter brand.[2]
The Board was established by an act of the Oireachtas, the Dairy Produce Marketing Act 1961, and replaced the earlier Butter Marketing Committee. It was created to centralize the overseas marketing of Irish dairy products so as to achieve economies of scale and greater brand recognition. And the time of the Board's creation, the European Economic Community's market was closed to Irish butter, and the United Kingdom market limited Irish imports by an import quota. As well, Irish agricultural products were usually treated as a commodity and shipped in bulk to be processed and packaged by British companies and sold under British brands. This meant that all of the value added happened outside of Ireland.
The name Kerrygold was selected to evoke "farming, naturalness, goodness and above all quality milk" as well as a sense of Irishness.[3] In October 1962, the Board successfully test-launched the Kerrygold brand in the Winterhill area of North West England. Since that time, the brand has been a major player in the British market, developing a reputation as a premium quality brand.
When Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, the Board began expanding its presence to continental Europe, beginning with the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany. By 1982, Kerrygold had national distribution in Germany. Today, the Board claims to be the "leading butter brand" in Germany.[4]