December 17, 2015

Ireland’s largest dairy exporter and owner of Kerrygold, Ornua, is making inroads to gain market share in Nigeria for it powdered milk, according to Dairy Reporter.

By 2050 Nigeria is forecast to have the third largest population in the world, according to the United Nations, surpassing the U.S., reaching a population of 413 million. To gain an advantage in this dynamic market, Ornua opened a new Kerrygold packaging facility last month through a joint venture with distribution and packaging company, Fareast Mercantile Company Ltd., and will be exporting its milk powder to Lagos, before it is packaged and sold through small distributors under the Kerrygold brand.

Jeanne Kelly, head of corporate communications at Ornua told Dairy Reporter that the Nigerian facility is key in building ‘sustainable routes’ through which its products can reach the Nigerian market, while also giving Ornua a more advantageous placement in the braoder African market. Ornua has been expanding across the African continent since 2013 when it opened its African headquarters in Port Elizabeth.

Nigeria is currently one of the top three importers of powdered milk on the continent and is Africa’s top importer of full-fat milk, importing 166,000 tons of milk powder products worth US$500.1 million in 2014, according to Ms. Kelly. The country has a young population with 3% annual growth rate and a population that is expected to increase from its current 177 million to 200 million by 2020.

Aside from powdered milk, Ornua has had a presence in Africa’s wider dairy sector for years, becoming the top seller of imported butter to South Africa with sales of US$142.9 million. Despite its success on the continent, the company is also looking to expand into other markets, including the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Spain. Currently Ornua exports its products to 110 countries and had sales exceeding US$2.2 billion in 2014.

In addition to its eye toward geographic expansion, Ornua continues to invest in its domestic operations as well, having just built a new butter processing facility in County Cork, Ireland with the capacity to produce 50,000 tons per year, while it continues to streamline its interests with the closing of its sale of California-based DPI Specialty Foods to Arbor Investments earlier this week.