Board Member Keith Agnew has been elected Vice-Chair of the Co-operative. Mr. Matthews was first elected to his role as Chair in February 2021. He farms at Tully, Co. Louth, in partnership with his wife Juana, with their son and two daughters.
Mr. Agnew is a dairy farmer in Newry, Co. Down, where he farms a Holstein-Friesian herd in partnership with his wife Ruth and three sons.
Niall Matthews, Chair of Lakeland Dairies, said: “I look forward to working with my colleague Keith and all Board members as we continue the strong progress of Lakeland Dairies. We are grateful to outgoing Vice-Chairs Alan McCay and Andrew McHugh, both of whom served as vice-chairs under the interim rules of the Society, following from the successful Lakeland and Lacpatrick merger completion and consequent Board reconfiguration. Both Alan and Andrew continue on the Board and we thank them for their contribution and commitment.”
Lakeland Dairies processes 2 bn litres of milk annually into a wide range of high quality dairy food ingredients, foodservice and consumer products, collecting milk from over 3,200 family farms across 16 counties north and south. The co-operative has 8 major processing facilities and exports over 240 products to 80 countries worldwide.
Meanwhile, Lakeland Dairies has increased its milk price for January. In the Republic of Ireland, Lakeland Dairies has increased its milk price by 1 cent/litre to pay 41 cent/litre inclusive of lactose bonus and VAT, for milk at 3.6% fat and 3.3% protein.
In Northern Ireland, Lakeland Dairies has increased its milk price by 0.8 p/litre to 32.7p/litre. There is a general stability at present in global dairy markets with a balance in supply and demand, positive trends in dairy commodities and improvements in consumer sentiment as economies continue their reopening.
