The Twenty20 Beef Club took the honours at the European Awards for Cooperative Innovation competition organised by Cogeca, under the ’Economic Value Creation’ category. Pictured from left to right are Jonathan Forbes from Kepak, Cogeca President Ramon Armengol, Martin Ryan
Head of Beef, Glanbia Ireland, Ross Brady Twenty20 Programme Manager and Dara Walton at his farm in Callan, Co. Kilkenny

The Twenty20 Beef Club has received a prestigious Cogeca European Award for Cooperatives in Brussels

Glanbia Co-op celebrated with other Co-operatives from across Europe at a recent awards ceremony to mark interesting and groundbreaking innovations.

Almost 150 representatives of European agri-cooperatives gathered in Brussels for the award ceremony of the six winners of the fifth European Award for Cooperative Innovation, organised by Cogeca and sponsored by the Spanish cooperative bank Cajamar Caja Rural.

The edition saw more than 100 applications showcasing many interesting and groundbreaking innovations that deliver value under the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainability.

Glanbia Co-op’s Twenty20 Beef Club was recognised by Cogeca under the ‘Economic Value Creation’ category.

Glanbia Ireland’s Head of Beef, Martin Ryan said the fully integrated calf to beef programme between Glanbia Ireland, Kepak Group and their respective farmer suppliers improves the economic, environmental and social sustainability of calf to beef systems. Martin highlighted the data from the 2021 processing, emphasising the sustainability credentials exhibited.

Over the past six months, Twenty20 Beef Club members have benefitted from a Club Premium of €0.25/Kg on top of the Average Quoted Price (AQP) in the market on all cattle that met the club’s specification. This payment is in addition to other bonuses, such as breed, protocol/quality and a seasonality bonus and is paid irrespective of the level of the AQP. The Club has also added a €0.10/Kg bonus on cull cows.

At the ceremony in Brussels, Ramon Armengol, Cogeca President congratulated the winners and all applicants, noting the fifth edition of the awards was a special one as it was launched at the beginning of the pandemic.

“At the beginning of a crisis that has required our enterprises to continue to adjust their business model, great innovative efforts have been put in place to ensure food security, readjust the mechanisms of the value chain, remain competitive on the market and address the arising needs of consumers and our food chain partners,” he said.

“Once again, our cooperatives have demonstrated their resilience, their capacity and their commitment. Today we are facing a new crisis with the conflict in Ukraine and the impact on the markets and we need to strengthen this resilience even further by cooperating and innovating.”

The six winners include two Spanish, one Polish, one Irish, one Belgian and one Swedish cooperative.