Kerry Dairy has rebranded to Kinisla as it becomes a co-operative model.
The name change combines the words kinship, to represent its people, and isla, meaning island, to represent Ireland’s natural resources.
The new company has two taglines: ‘Deep Roots. Bold Moves.’ and ‘Shaped by land. Powered by people. Driven by what’s next.’
While the business has dropped ‘Kerry’ from its name, it said it would still lean heavily into its Irish roots and the ecosystem around dairy farming.
It comes as last year Kerry Co-Operative Creameries completed phase one of its acquisition of a 70% shareholding in Kerry Dairy Ireland, with plans to continue increasing farmer ownership.
Chris Roberts, MD for consumer foods at Kinisla, told The Grocer the brand was using the business structure change as an opportunity to “go into the future boldly”.
“It’s a really exciting time for us,” he added. “We’re a large dairy, end-to-end business. We’ve got a 1.4 billion-turnover. We’re growing strongly. We want to continue to do that into the future. That’s what this rebrand is all about.”
Kinisla has a 2,600-strong base of farmers based in the southwest of Ireland and with an average herd size of 100, which Roberts said had enabled the business to have “really sustainable dairy”.
Multi-million euro investment
At the same time, Kinisla has announced a €300m investment programme over the next five years across its dairy consumer foods and nutritional ingredients business pillars.
Roberts explained it would be particularly focusing on adult snacking, pointing to the growth of its Strings & Things and Smug brands.
“The best way to put it is dairy and cheese are having their moment right now, and we expect that moment to really continue into the future, because of the core value of dairy, the nutrient density, the versatility of it,” added Roberts. “We’re really backing ourselves in terms of our dairy, and we believe our grass-fed dairy is really unique in terms of the quality that brings as well.”
The investment will support manufacturing innovation, operational scale and sustainability initiatives aimed at reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
It will also support the continued expansion of the company’s Evolve RegenDairy programme, its on-farm sustainability initiative designed to accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices and support the long-term environmental, social and economic sustainability of dairy farming.
The business will also create more than 100 new roles across central functions, innovation and commercial operations over the next 12 to 24 months.
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