Creameries merge to form major new Northern Ireland processor

The merger of the two creameries creates the second largest milk processor in Northern Ireland

Two creameries with plants in counties Tyrone and Londonderry have announced plans to merge.

Ballyrashane Co-op and Town of Monaghan Co-op say there will now be "significant new investment".

The newly merged company will be called LacPatrick.

Ballyrashane's main site is near Coleraine where it employs 150 staff.

It has an annual turnover of around £80m and buys 100 million litres of milk from around 100 local farms.

Town of Monaghan Co-op has a milk powder plant at Artigarvan.

Returns

The company is a farmer-owned co-operative and employs 150 people on both sides of the border.

It has approximately 950 farmers supplying 460 million litres of milk a year.

Its deputy chief executive Nigel Kemps said the merger was particularly important given depressed milk prices and poor returns to farmers.

"The size and scale that we now have as a merged entity will ensure that we can be more competitive and achieve better returns," he said.

"Our aim is to give dairy farmers in the north of the island confidence to grow their businesses and herds."

The merger creates the second largest milk processor in Northern Ireland, behind Dale Farm.