This visit enabled the national board to gain an insight into how Ornua work with their customers and how they support the British cheese sector.
There was a clear message that over the past few years retailers have moved to a preference of sourcing British cheese. Despite Ornua being owned by Irish dairy cooperatives, over two thirds of the retail own label cheese packed at the Leek site is produced from British cheese. Indeed, Ornua is the world’s largest buyer of British cheese with major long term supply agreements in place with the likes of First Milk and Parkham Farm.
As well as retailer own label cheese, Ornua also own Pilgrims Choice, which is one of the UK's leading cheddar brands. Although this product is not 100% British, it was of great interest to hear what attracts people to purchase the brand and how the cheese category is structured.
Michael Oakes, NFU dairy board chairman, said: “This was an excellent visit to Ornua where the board got a chance to learn how cheese is graded and take part in open discussions on what the company is doing to plan for Brexit.
"With uncertain times ahead, it is vital that we understand customer requirements and how they might be affected.”