The Milk Business

Supplementing dairy protein for high performing athletes started as a very niche category segment with body builders leading the charge. Now athletes in every sport, in every part of the world, are supplementing diets with protein to avoid injuries and enhance performance. Will it continue? Will dairy protein hold its ground? What is changing in the growing world of Sports nutrition and protein supplementation? To get a handle on answers to key questions that the dairy industry needs to know about this week Jack Kennedy met up with the team from ABC Nutritionals in the South of Ireland. There he met Sean McNamara, Eibhear Quilligan and Aine O'Callaghan to get the most up to date information. We also hear from our regular guests from around the world in New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, England and Ireland. Next week in part two of our sports nutrition special we'll meet with manufacturers of these high value base proteins.

Is the flood of US investments by milk processing co-ops going to end badly? Are European co-ops struggling in a milk price/Input cost squeeze going to be able to pull through this difficult patch? And What are the key co-op fundamental principles that make the co-op structure fit milk processing? This week Jack Kennedy asks New Zealand's Mike O'Connor for answers around co-ops that seem stretched after recent milk processing investments while some private dairy companies seem to be thriving outside of the co-operative space. This week Mike O’Connor was appointed as an independent director to co-operative business New Zealand. We also hear updates from the North and South Island of New Zealand, the Netherlands and France.

Last week we were talking protein – this week we are doing a wrap on commodities, farm gate milk prices, and what supply and demand factors are driving markets across the world. We hear about production per cow targets in the Netherlands, making silage and milk in New Zealand, France recovering from the dry spell but still short on winter feed, and costs rising significantly in England and Europe for fuel, fertiliser and feed.

What’s the difference between milk protein isolates and concentrates – what’s fast and what’s slow protein, what’s the difference between plant and animal protein – what is the future of protein and will we need animals at all very soon. This week to find out more about protein Jack Kennedy talks to Andre Brodkorb from Moorepark Food Research Centre in Cork, Ireland.
Following a barrage of questions and engagement about protein last week in follow up to our visit to Kilkenny Cheese this week we have decided to try and answer some of your questions about the difference between isolates and concentrates, whey and milk protein and what's the future for plant proteins.

In this week's episode we visited a new development called Kilkenny Cheese on the East coast of Ireland. It's a Joint Venture investment between a family run company headquartered in the Netherlands called Royal A-ware and Tirlan, an Irish co-op based in the East of Ireland. Kilkenny Cheese make soft cheeses Edam and Gouda with by products of whey and cream processed at other Tirlan locations in Ireland. We also hear from milk suppliers in New Zealand, The Netherlands, England, and Ireland.

The Mid Term elections are coming up in the US – the World Dairy Expo was on last week in Madison – the US dairy industry has been flying and continues to fly – this week we get an update on the most fascinating aspect of the global dairy business - the US dairy scene. We also chat milk suppliers from New Zealand, the Netherlands, England and Ireland.

This week we have a peep under the protein bonnet of three leading global dairy companies – Leprino in the US, Arla in Europe and Tatua in New Zealand as we attempt to answer the question everybody is asking will unprecedented US dairy expansion in milk production and processing mean protein prices collapse next year and that the wheels come off the protein train. We hear from suppliers in New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, England and Ireland as Friesland Campina and Arla both lift milk prices for October.

How many of you have heard of the Global Dairy Platform? Well, it’s an international organisation that represents the global dairy sector. This week Jack Kennedy sits down with it’s CEO Donald Moore to get the low down on what role it plays for the dairy sector and how it operates as an organisation.

As New Zealand heads for peak milk, Europe recovers from its summer drought and the US continues to pump more milk onto global markets what is the outlook and the mood music for September and October on global dairy markets. This week Jack Kennedy maps market sentiment with John Lancaster from StoneX.

We also hear from milk suppliers from the North Island and South Island of New Zealand, England, France, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Arla - one of the most successful if not the most successful cross border co-ops. Where often neighbouring co-ops can’t sit in the same room Arla have taken co-operation to the next level in a period of 25 years. This might sound like a long time but in generational co-operation across countries it’s absolutely not. Arla last week announced excellent half year results - so this week because Jack Kennedy was inundated with queries he decided to do something different and just stand back to admire and understand a bit more about how Arla operates. Net profit jumped 35% to €213m on group sales up 1.3% to €7.6bn

This week Jack Kennedy talks to milk suppliers from all over Europe about how they are going to react to rising farm gate milk prices and what milk supply is doing in each country as it counts the cost of the long dry summer. We also hear from Australia, and New Zealand as they reach the end of calving and milk supply starts to crank up.

This week Jack Kennedy talks to economist Matt Dilly from ANZ bank in New Zealand about the 30% rise in dairy land sales in New Zealand, and how the El Nino might impact on New Zealand dairy farming. We hear about drone spraying and spreading in Australia, we hear about 'Shamonda like' virus in the Netherlands and maize yields only half of what was expected in Southern England.

Sentiment on dairy markets is improving – this week we wrap up some of the key drivers of milk market sentiment in the key milk producing parts of the world that impact on global dairy trade which in turn impact farm gate milk price into the future. We also hear from our contributors in New Zealand, Denmark, Germany, France, England, Scotland and Ireland about what's happening or in the news in each country.

The dairy protein industry is riding the crest of a wave – whey protein isolate and concentrate prices are orbiting where nobody ever expected – demand is off the charts. One of the very first companies globally to invest in membrane technology to essentially create these whey protein products was Carbery – a relatively small but niche Irish based company working out of South West Cork. Its not only milk protein that makes money for Carbery – taste and flavours have been good for business also.

This week Jack Kennedy sits down with Jason Hawkins, CEO at Carbery. Previously Jason worked with Kerry and indeed Dairy Farmers of America so he is well known across the world. Carbery today is different to what it was even five years ago – they’ve grown the milk pool and invested into 'Synergy' - Carbery's taste and flavour business - so what next for Carbery?
We also hear from milk suppliers around the world on what's happening and why or how it is impacting milk supply.

This week we take an August bank holiday recap and review of the last 20 episodes of the Milk Business podcast. We pull out the best bits - ask what has happened in that space since we published the particular podcast, and look forward to the next couple of months in the Milk Business.

Five ways the US are hammering the rest of the world on milk and why is American dairy different now to what it was before?

After considerable feed back on our two most recent US speakers – Mary Ledman and Darragh Maccabee I was contacted by a number of listeners asking why is the US scoring big on milk compared to the EU, and I got a good few ‘why does it matter’ type of questions. This week in 5 key points I want to summarise why I think the US is on a completely different track to EU milk and why America dairy now is different to what it was before. The global dairy landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation that could reshape trade flows for the next decade.

Idaho Milk Products have been in the milk protein game for nearly 20 years. Now they’ve just joined the ice cream game. Is it a pivot, is it more of the same? As wildfires sweep Europe Jack Kennedy talks to Idaho Milk Products CEO Daragh Mccabee as they have just invested over $200m US dollars in a new state of the art ice cream plant officially opened in May of this year. For almost 20 years they have led in the milk protein game – why the move into ice cream now?

The English football team are coming home from the world cup. Irish dairy company Dairygold are selling part of their UK dairy business. New Zealand giants Fonterra are looking to once again supply large volumes into the UK dairy market, and weight loss medication is going on sale in the UK this week in tablet form – it’s all change at the top of the English milk business. This week Jack Kennedy talks to Chris Walkland about football, warm weather, Fonterra, rising UK farmgate milk prices, UK milk supply crashing, and he has some advice for Irish co-op Dairygold selling their UK soft cheese business. We also hear updates from milk suppliers from New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, and Ireland.

The US dairy Industry is riding the crest of a wave – the processing sector is investing like never before – the US government and political institution really wants farmers and the dairy industry to thrive. Consumers can’t get enough dairy protein. This week, podcast host Jack Kennedy, talks to Mary Ledman, former head of dairy at Rabobank and a global expert who has spent her career talking to and working with the global dairy industry. We also hear updates from around the world on what's happening on milk supply, feed availability, milk pricing and recent innovation.

Europe is well behind the US and New Zealand when it comes to milk price management tools for hedging milk price. This week host Jack Kennedy gets the insights of a trading expert John O'Driscoll who was globally trading dairy and other food commodities to hear his thoughts on risk management to make margins and returns more predictable and consistent. We also hear from milk suppliers around the world to keep a handle on what's happening supply.

With dairy companies announcing new mergers and acquisitions at renewed pace in 2026 this week podcast host Jack Kennedy talks to a global expert on why it's all happening and what dairy companies not in the M&A space need to consider. As Europe melts in extreme heat we are talk melting of a different sort this week as dairy companies around the world continue to merge, bolt-on, change, diversify, grow and develop. This week Dutch based expert Mark Voorbergen, an independent consultant working in the field of strategy, finance and mergers with global dairy companies joins us on the Milk Business Podcast to talk mergers, why now, and what next.

With a new strategy in place for global dairy giant Fonterra, a template and a history in share farming and equity partnerships, and an industry that is treating livestock emissions differently to many other countries – the global dairy industry needs to hear more from New Zealand. This week the Milk Business podcast host Jack Kennedy talks to Nicola Shadbolt from New Zealand about some of the fundamental challenges to dairy farming and how the Kiwi's are managing these new changes. We also hear from milk suppliers from Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

If the airline industry can ride the storms of higher energy prices why can’t the dairy industry? Europe is playing catch up to the rest of the world on milk price risk management. The US dairy industry is leading the way on options for protecting margins. This week Jack Kennedy talks to global expert broker John Lancaster from StoneX on his experience, recommendations and advice on what the next steps should be. We also hear from farmers around the world as they prepare for calving in New Zealand and making winter feed in Europe.

Since 2021 Kerry Group plc have started to evolve their existing milk business into a stand alone business unit. In December 2024 Kerry shareholders and milk suppliers voted unamimously to take back the milk business into majority co-op ownership. This Kerry milk business that was previously called Kerry Dairy Ireland – now has been rebranded Kinisla. This podcast carries the full interview between Jack Kennedy and Kinisla CEO Pat Murphy.

After a recent period of turbulance it seems calm has been restored on what was 'the Kerry way', but now is 'the Kinisla way'. World renowned Kerry Group plc still own 30% of the Kinisla dairy business, however, milk suppliers are back in control of the Kinisla co-op now. This week Jack Kennedy sat down in Kinisla headquarters to meet with CEO Pat Murphy to talk changes, where for the future, and how Kinisla expect to better compete on a global stage. We also hear from milk suppliers in New Zealand, Australia, France, and the Netherlands.

This week there were some very interesting global dairy news stories so Jack Kennedy said he’d package them together to bring a flavour of some of the breaking news in the dairy game. Fonterra announced financial results and announced a forecast milk price for the rest of the 2025/2026 season, and also another forecast milk price for 2026/2027 season. The Arla merger with DMK and DOC was formally approved by the EU, over 12 months after it was first announced, and, the company formerly known as Kerry Dairy Ireland re-booted it's journey under a new name, Kinisla.

This week on the Milk Business Podcast Jack Kennedy talks to a global expert from Ireland on what’s happening globally in terms of trying to tie down what revenue, milk price or even margin milk suppliers are getting around the world.

MTU expert Declan O Connor from Cork in Ireland has many years of experience lecturing the industry on the benefits of risk management to the dairy industry. We also hear from farmers in New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands, France, England, Brazil and Ireland on what they are doing to manage risk.

This week given the significance to world trade of a meeting between the Presidents of US and China Jack Kennedy chats to Ian Lahiffe in Beijing about the 'meeting', milk production in China, Taiwan, Foot and Mouth, and Chinese whole milk powder imports. We also hear from dairy farmers around the world discuss key issues facing them as we head into the last week of May.

The majority of European milk is purchased by co-operatives (c.60%), however, a large chunk of milk produced in major European milk producing countries such as France, the UK and Germany is purchased by private companies.

One of the key differences between private and co-operatives entities is that milk suppliers are not the owners of the business, and hence processing investment decisions, milk payment decisions and retained earnings for growth are in the hands of private owners not milk suppliers.

Frischli, is a German private milk processing company and is one of the most modern and high performance dairies in Germany. For over 125 years, the owner-managed company has produced dairy products, which fulfil the highest standards for quality, sustainability and taste. Processing over 1 billion litres of milk annually it has business in retail, food service and export markets. With over 1,000 employees across four processing sites it processes milk from over 750 German farmers. This week I sat down with executives from Frischli to discuss how the business runs as it celebrates 125 years in business.

This week on the milk business podcast we report from the 2026 Dairy Industry Newsletter annual conference in London. A host of global experts gathered to discuss what they expect to happen to global milk supply as commodity dairy prices and milk prices to farmers mean some of the actual farmgate milk prices are some of the worst experienced for the last 20 years. We also hear from suppliers around the world as they describe the key issues impacting in their region.