About us

The ‘Avonmore’ brand name originates in County Kilkenny, Ireland – it refers to Avonmore Foods, which along with Waterford Foods, merged to create Glanbia plc – the international cheese and nutritional ingredients group which owns the “Avonmore” brand in Ireland.

In 1967 the Avonmore Creameries Federation was formed when 36 small co-operative societies and Unigate Limited came together to establish a new milk processing facility in Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny.

The then new co-operative was named after the Avon river which flows through Callan, Co. Kilkenny, close to the location of the Group's first processing facility at Ballyragget. Avonmore was founded by people who foresaw that farmers could help themselves through their own multipurpose co-operative society. Their plan to grow and expand the business evoked the word more, hence Avonmore

In 1973 Avonmore Creameries Limited was established and in 1978 purchased the Unigate interest resulting in the milk purchasing business becoming wholly-owned by Avonmore.

In 1988 the Group underwent major re-organisation and the public quoted company Avonmore Foods plc was established.

In 1997 the merger of Avonmore Foods plc and Waterford Foods created a new, international food company with significant businesses in Ireland, Great Britain and the USA, which served markets for dairy and meat products across the world. The company then became known as Avonmore Waterford Group plc.

After the merger, the Group was substantially re-organised and given renewed direction as a performance oriented and market focused, low cost manufacturer of quality food products. In effect, a fundamentally new organisation driven by new ambition and new resources was created. Subject to shareholder approval, an outward expression to this evolution was the adoption of a new name for the Group and its businesses in March 1999.

The name chosen was Glanbia plc. Glanbia is a new word, easy to read and pronounce. It is derived from two Gaelic words - Glan, meaning pure or clear, and bia, meaning food. It is a statement of what we do as a company dedicated to food production and of our fundamental commitment to the highest standards of food quality and safety. All of our brands continue as normal, hence today we still have Avonmore cheese, butter and milk brands.