Super Milk bikes promotion
Super Milk bikes promotion
Get your wheels in motion with Avonmore Super Milk!
Avonmore Super Milk is giving consumers a chance to win one of seven family bike sets! This promotional offer will appeal to families and links back to SuperMilk’s core benefit of Vitamin D by encouraging outdoor togetherness. It also ties in well with the back to school period and is a great prize for all the family.
Keep an eye out for the campaign which is being supported with extensive advertising on bus shelters and adboxes, SuperValu and Tesco Live screens, Point of Sales advertising and digital ads on social media.
The competition also runs across 1l and 1.75l Super Milk packs until October 3rd, please let your friends and family know how they can be in with a chance of winning.
*Please note competition is not open to Glanbia employees
Healthy Lunches & Wallets
Healthy lunches and wallets!
With students back to school, September is a great opportunity to create new routines that are good for both healthy bodies and bank balances
In conjunction with VHI Corporate Health, Glanbia’s Wellbeing team recently ran a webinar on the topic of ‘Children’s Nutrition and Back to School Lunchboxes’. The session aimed to get some creative lunchbox ideas flowing and assist you in making weekly lunch plans together with children, giving them more to look forward to when the lunch bell rings!
Niamh Arthurs BSc MSc is a registered dietitian who feels particularly passionate and enthusiastic about promoting health and well-being in the workplace and other community groups such as sports clubs, preschools and primary and secondary schools. Niamh uses an interactive, engaging and fun approach and has been described as “an energy and enthusiasm that is contagious!”
Back to School Financial Planning
The cost of back to school can be significant for many families and individuals. For some, a mix of savings and borrowing will be necessary to cover those costs. In the webinar, Frank Conway discusses the average cost of returning to primary and secondary school as well as those entering and returning to third-level education. The seminar also addresses the range of options open to parents to cover those costs, including practical financial planning steps, some investing options and credit options.
STAYING TRUE TO OUR ROOTS
STAYING TRUE TO OUR ROOTS
François Morgan talks about ‘Living Proof’, Glanbia Ireland’s new Sustainability Strategy
Launched recently, Living Proof is Glanbia Ireland’s commitment to farming, food and the future. The 10 year strategy contains a comprehensive action plan with defined sustainability targets which will see GI become one of the most environmentally-focused dairy, and grain producers in the world.
A ‘Hub’ of internal and external industry and environmental experts, including Glanbia Ireland’s Chief Innovation and Sustainability Officer, François Morgan were the architects of the strategy, which aims to reach carbon neutrality for our company by 2050.
Overherd at Glanbia caught up with Francois following the launch to understand more about what Living Proof means for our people, our business and our communities.
Overherd: At a very basic level, why does GI need a sustainability strategy?
François: Well, there are four main reasons. The first is that simply it’s the right thing to do for our people, our communities, future generations and for GI – it’s the ethical thing to do for all of us. Secondly, working with and purchasing from a sustainable business is what our customers and consumers have come to expect – we’re aligning with our customers’ roadmaps, while climate change and animal welfare are just two topics close to consumers’ hearts at the moment. Thirdly the regulatory environment is evolving rapidly with the voice of society influencing government policy massively over the past six months – we don’t want to just stay on-side with the regulators, but instead be a leading light for our industry.
And finally we want to reclaim the narrative for our farm suppliers to be proud of what we do. As custodians of the land they have a great responsibility and mission, they are the solution to a sustainable future and we want to help them on this journey.
Overherd: Underpinning any strategy are its foundations, could you tell us what Living Proof is built on?
François: It’s quite simple really, Living Proof is built on the strength of people and what is important to us. GI’s Chairman captures what this means quite well in our launch video, explaining that Living Proof is about caring for our communities and staying true to our roots, it’s about safeguarding and future proofing our family farms, and it’s about caring for you and our planet. Our company has a responsibility to ensure all our communities remain vital and sustainable, while we innovate to offer natural nutrition and sustainable diets to consumers – these are the successful foundations that will continue to see GI thrive.
Overherd: With Living Proof being such a large body of work, presumably there was a big team behind the creation of the strategy?
François: Indeed there was, from both an internal and external perspective. What’s important to note is that for many of us in GI, including myself, creating a sustainability strategy from the ground – up was a new challenge, an adventure. To drive the project, a core team of internal experts were enlisted to help. Their existing knowledge in carbon reduction, the circular economy, diversity and inclusion, and environmental reporting was complemented by external expertise from the Carbon Trust, Forum for the Future, and Teagasc.
Across all of these areas there was great commitment and passion, we took on the challenge like a mission and there was fantastic alchemy. I’d like to thank everyone involved for their contributions to date and for the support from Jim Bergin and the ELT, whose support has been crucial to getting Living Proof to this point.
Overherd: What does Glanbia Ireland hope to achieve with such an ambitious strategy?
François: We want to help create the roadmap for the future of Irish farming, especially in terms of grain and milk production. We also want to futureproof our business in terms of regulations, ensuring it’s sustainable for generations to come. And we plan to continue to grow our business through innovation and investment in foods of the future.
We really want colleagues across the world to embrace the strategy and incorporate it into what we do every day. It’s a living strategy that employees can contribute to and a big part of its success will rely on our people helping to execute the strategy and make it happen. It’s my hope that people get a sense of purpose and belonging from Living Proof and are proud to tell our customers and consumers what we are doing and what we want to achieve.
Want to support our sustainability journey?
You can download and use our email banner and MS Teams backdrops below.
CHEWING THE CUD WITH… EVE MULCAHY
CHEWING THE CUD WITH… EVE MULCAHY
Each month, we put the spotlight on a Glanbia Ireland employee and for our August newsletter, we spoke to Eve Mulcahy, Product Manager, Proteins Category in Ingredients
PhD graduate Eve Mulcahy enjoyed several industry research roles before swapping her lab coat for a more customer-facing role with Glanbia Ireland four years ago. The Tipperary native, who has moved back home to the Tipperary/Cork border to work remotely since lockdown, still revels in the buzz and the variety she gets from working with the commercial team in the rapidly changing proteins ingredient category.
“No two days are the same in my job. The pace is phenomenal and you have to adapt and change to market and customer needs all of the time. Our parent company is the largest sports nutrition company in the world so there are always new customers, new products being developed, new categories and new opportunities.
“My mornings typically involve customer meetings and afternoons are spent chatting to colleagues across a wide variety of teams – from agri through to operations. It’s very much a cross-functional role and I deal with a huge number of people on different teams right across the business.
“I miss the face to face interactions we had pre-Covid. I love meeting people and making connections. But on the plus side and I always believe there is a plus side to everything, it has also been easier in some ways to get meetings with key customers as they are more accessible.
“People have also become more health conscious since the pandemic. Lots of foods now have added protein and more people have a more active lifestyle. A whole new generation are more health conscious and it’s also a busy and active area to work in as we also care for an ageing population with more health issues. Protein is fundamental to a healthy lifestyle and diet and this gives us lots of opportunities for growth.”
Eve misses the buzz of working in Ballyragget and living in Kilkenny but since moving home, she’s welcomed a new addition to the family – a highly energetic, adorable rescue border collie called Jack. He may have failed sheepdog school but has a Masters in affection and a passion for anything to do with a ball.
“He is obsessed with playing ball. As soon as he hears a door opening, he’s bounding at you with a ball. I’ve spent a small fortune on toys for him since he arrived. He has been great because he is full of energy and needs loads of walks. He has helped me to unwind with plenty of walks, plenty of fun in the garden and has excelled at running and just having fun. We’ve always had dogs and he is a brilliant addition to the family.”
Glanbia Ireland is very much home for Eve now and while she is a scientist at heart, she’s absolutely revelling in her busy role. The teams based on the sites have not lost touch with one another. “We made a commitment early on that we would pick up the phone to one another, rather than sending emails all the time. We’ve kept it up. I’m not sure when we will return to an office scenario, but I am looking forward to it.”
Asked about the future, Eve said: “I love the Co-op ethos in Glanbia. We are working in rural communities, for rural communities. Working for Glanbia Ireland helps me understand the impact of dairy farming and by developing new opportunities with global customers, it can contribute to the economies of towns and villages in rural Ireland.”
INDOOR 5G FOR BALLYRAGGET
Brian Farrell (foreground), is joined by Karl Duffy (L) Three Ireland, and Robert Stack (R) from Ericsson.
INDOOR 5G FOR BALLYRAGGET
Glanbia Ireland has launched a 5G strategic partnership with Three and Ericsson
Glanbia Ireland, Three Ireland and Ericsson recently announced a new strategic partnership to increase manufacturing efficiency at our cheese plant in Ballyragget by installing an indoor 5G network. The new 5G network at Glanbia Ireland’s largest facility is the first implementation of its kind in a live manufacturing environment in Ireland.
Through this innovative ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) pilot programme, GI is working with Three and Ericsson to demonstrate how 5G technology can be used in manufacturing environments to enable faster and more accurate maintenance tasks, assist with problem solving, provide richer analysis of plant processes and reduce manual administration.
The new indoor 5G network will bring greater connectivity and data security, allowing Glanbia to trial AR and VR applications and test how 5G can provide enhanced connectivity solutions for their wider production facilities.
Brian Farrell, Engineering Manager at Ballyragget said: “We’re delighted to be involved in this groundbreaking initiative with Three Ireland and Ericsson. It’s allowing us to bring to life some of the early learnings from our participation in an EU-funded Horizon 2020 5G project. It emphasises the importance of networks as an enabler for Digital Industrial Transformation and it will accelerate the trial and adoption of some innovative Industry 4.0 use cases for us.”
The project has been a hugely collaborative effort, with many people across Glanbia contributing vital knowledge and expertise to get it to this point. Managed and driven by MES Manager Michael Power from the outset, key contributors include Luke McCormack (GBS – MES), Paul Dunne (GI Maintenance) and Deirdre Ní Mhuiri’s Network Team. There’s also been great support from the engineering and IT teams in Ballyragget – Matthew O’Donnell, Brian Lannon and Marie McCormack. Darren Bambrick (GBS) and Seamus Norris (GBS) have worked on the mobile maintenance application.
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT - CheddMAX
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT - CHEDDMAX
There’s a cheese for every need with CheddMax, GI’s highly functional range of natural cheese solutions
Did you know that Glanbia is the largest manufacturer of cheddar cheese in the world? Our expertise helps us to stay ahead of a dynamic market where demands quickly evolve. Our experience in developing award-winning cheese helps some of the world’s biggest brands solve their technical challenges and improve the overall quality of their cheese.
CheddMax – Our highly functional range of cheese solutions
With decades of cheddar-making experience, our experts have developed CheddMax, a range of high quality natural cheese solutions. CheddMax allows us to demonstrate to customers how their functionality needs, such as low browning, meltability, sliceability, firmness or spreadability can be met and overcome.
The CheddMax portfolio
Our CheddMax portfolio is made up of a number of individual solutions, each one designed to deliver on different functionalities.
CheddMax LB
CheddMax LB is specifically formulated for use in a variety of processed cheese applications where reduced browning is required to enhance the end product appearance. This includes grated cheese for pizza.
CheddMax EV
CheddMax EV can be easily incorporated into existing processing equipment and recipes. It shows superior firmness in individually wrapped slices, forming a less brittle and less sticky slice, making it easier to unwrap. It also demonstrates superior firmness in slice-on-slice and higher viscosity in processed cheese triangles compared to regular cheddar.
CheddMax Super Slice
CheddMax Super Slice delivers exceptional slicing texture and functionality. It is the smart solution for optimum performance on today’s high speed slicing lines that require cheese with optimised slicing functionality and consistent year-round performance. This product targets the B2B slicing houses that supply a combination of retail and foodservice sliced cheese. The product also exhibits superior melt and stretch in heated applications such as toasted cheese sandwiches.
GLANBIA IRELAND ATTAINS BORD BIA GRASS FED CERTIFICATION
GLANBIA IRELAND ATTAINS BORD BIA GRASS FED CERTIFICATION
Glanbia Ireland recently attained Bord Bia Grass Fed certification across six of our plants for cheese, butter and lactose
Bord Bia’s Grass-Fed Standard brings a data-based assurance that dairy is sourced from herds that enjoy a diet that’s on average 95% grass and grass-based forage, grazing in open pastures for an average of 240 days a year.
With consumers around the world increasingly expressing a desire for dairy products that can be verified as grass-fed and this standard now becoming a requirement for most of our larger customer base including Ornua/Kerrygold, attaining this certification is important verification to support our customers and drive value for Glanbia Ireland.
There was a significant body of work completed with Bord Bia to modify the standard requirements to create a sustainable grass-fed model/standard for the industry. This process took four months and once alignment was reached with Bord Bia, our project team developed and implemented the BBGF Standard to a very tight eight-week timeline to achieve the BBGF certification across our milk pool & plant network.
Underpinning the project is a robust IT solution which calculates and reports the Bord Bia grass-fed score on a daily basis. Grass-fed scores are calculated at a load, site, intra-site product movement and finished product level and reflect the complex product flows within our ecosystem. Bord Bia described the IT solution as the standard against which all other processors in Ireland will be measured.
CYCLE ROTES FOR GLANBIA 300 ANNOUNCED
CYCLE ROTES FOR GLANBIA 300 ANNOUNCED
The 2021 edition of Glanbia 300 takes place over a week-long period from the 6th to the 12th of September
In its seven years of existence, the event has raised nearly €240,000 for multiple charities and this year’s target is to raise €40,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland, The Samaritans and suicide awareness charity Teac Tom in Kilkenny.
The event is open to all Glanbia employees and friends and family who’d like to take up a 15K challenge through walking, running, cycling, swimming or any other physical activity that will contribute to GI’s ambition to reach 30,000K in a week!
Two groups that will contribute a huge number of kilometres to the grand total are our 100k and 150k cyclists who will leave Glanbia House on the morning of Friday 10th September for a competitive tour of South Kilkenny and parts of Tipperary. Overherd at Glanbia is happy to announce the routes the riders will take.
100K
Starting from Kilkenny, riders will head south into Tipperary towards the foothills of Slievenamon where the 100K group will split, heading for Carrick on Suir and on towards Granagh, where it’s a sharp turn for the long 45k stretch home.
150K
Once separated, the 150K group will continue towards the outskirts of Clonmel before a hairpin turn sees them straddle the Waterford border to Carrick and back on the main route through Granagh, Mullinavat and Ballyhale. From there they will pedal towards Paulstown before a sharp left turn for home.
The Glanbia 300 team has set some ambitious targets this year:
- 15 kilometres to be completed by every GI employee during the week
- 30,000 kilometres in total to be completed
- €40,000 raised for our three charities
Hitting these targets will not be possible without the help of all Glanbia Ireland employees, so we’re asking each of you to commit to a minimum 15K challenge from September 6th to 12th. You can complete this distance any way you want, whether that’s walking, running, swimming, cycling or anything else you can think of.
If each of our 2,000+ employees hits their personal 15K challenge, we’ll reach our 30,000 kilometre target.
With as many people involved as possible, we’re hoping to break through our €40,000 fundraising target. There’s just under a month to go until the start of the event, so you can begin fundraising straight away by sharing this GoFundMe link. To help you reach out to colleagues, friends and family for donations, the Glanbia 300 team has created this donation request form which you can fill in, save down and forward on.
Keep an eye out for more details about the event in the coming weeks, including how kilometres will be tracked. If you can’t participate but would still like to contribute, the GoFundMe page is live and accepting donations.
GI IS OFFICIAL PLANT SUPPLIER FOR DIY: SOS
GI IS OFFICIAL PLANT SUPPLIER FOR DIY: SOS
Glanbia CountryLife is proud to be official plant partners of RTE’s DIY: SOS
Following this heart-warming show’s huge success in 2020, a second season of Ireland’s ‘DIY SOS: The Big Build’ will be proudly supported by Glanbia CountryLife, helping to ensure the gardening dreams of the families involved come to life. Having witness first-hand the transformational impact the show’s work had on the Guihen family in last year’s DIY SOS series, Glanbia CountryLife did not hesitate to get involved again to lend their support.
Fronted by Baz Ashmawy, the DIY: SOS team of volunteers set out to renovate the homes of deserving families, with the hope of positively changing their lives forever. Through a nine day build, each of the four homes involved in this year’s series will be transformed. Working hand in hand with the show’s garden designer, Peter Donegan, Glanbia CountryLife will help to reimagine and recreate each homes’ outdoor space into a haven for all the family to enjoy.
Speaking about GI’s involvement Grace O’Dwyer, Retail Marketing Manager said: “DIY SOS is an emotional and heartfelt show that goes right to the heart of community spirit. Our Glanbia CountryLife branches are often the hub of local communities, with our people mirroring that same community ethos on a day-to-day basis. We are thrilled to play our part on a national stage in helping to transform lives for the better.”
Volunteers
Not content to stop at supplying gardening plants and products for each home featured, Glanbia CountryLife is also joining the army of volunteers by providing feet on the ground to help with garden and home renovations. Fronted by horticulturist Fergal Joy from our Bunclody Branch, DIY SOS has the support of Glanbia CountryLife in more ways than one, with many staff members digging in and getting their hands dirty.
The CountryLife team is looking for more volunteers from across GI to join them in making a family’s dream come true. If you’ve got some gardening or building skills or aren’t afraid of a bit of hard work, please email GIPeopleServices@glanbia.ie for more details on how to get involved.
Due to air as part of RTE’s autumn/winter programming season but filming throughout the summer months, this emotional and heartfelt show is sure to capture the nation’s heart once again. The Glanbia CountryLife team look forward to rolling up their sleeves, embracing the community spirit of the show and helping to truly change the families’ lives in a meaningful way.
CHEWING THE CUD WITH… BARRY HAYES
CHEWING THE CUD WITH… BARRY HAYES
Each month, we put the spotlight on a Glanbia Ireland employee and for our July newsletter, we spoke to Barry Hayes, IT Applications Manager
Tell us how long you have worked in Glanbia and a little about your role?
I did my second interview for Glanbia the day before I got married, back in 2015. I got a call on our honeymoon to say I got the role. I wanted to be an accountant since I was 10 years of age and worked as a Chartered Accountant with Glanbia until April of last year when I moved into an IT Applications Manager role. I’ve seven people reporting to me and while I loved accountancy, this is a far more fast-moving and dynamic role. I had worked closely on the GlanbiaConnect online shop project in my previous role; it gave me a flavour of the IT involved and I knew that if I wanted to progress in the company, I needed to be more dynamic.
Your department is one of the lesser known teams in GI, tell us about what the team looks after
We support the business on two fronts – through 85 different IT applications and we enhance the business through new and existing applications. Any of the large projects in GI tend to have an IT element so we’re brought in at the outset to play our part. IT is becoming more and more important to the company at every single level.
What’s your favourite thing about working in Glanbia Ireland?
Every day is different. When I worked in accountancy, once you completed the months’ end, you repeated the task. In my new role, everything is different and there are new challenges every single day, particularly in such a big and diverse organisation as Glanbia.
What are you most proud of in your job?
The way we pull together, particularly in a crisis. During the recent SAP outage, we worked long hours and worked to our collective strengths. It was the first time that the business saw the whole IT operation working together as one unit, as a very tight and close team.
How do you describe GI to friends or family outside of work?
As a great place to work and a place where your talents are recognised and rewarded and your future is nurtured. I’m a Limerick native but I’m made feel very much at home at Glanbia.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I’m very involved with the GAA. I train the ladies football team in Old Loughlin in Carlow and have also trained the Kilkenny ladies football team. I trained Castlecomer hurlers last year. I love coaching and the GAA in the evenings takes your mind off the challenges you face during the working day. When you turn up for training, nobody wants to know what kind of a day you’ve had. You’re there to do a very different job.
What are you most looking forward to post Covid/lockdown?
I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing Limerick win an All-Ireland again and this time being in the crowd in Croke Park. Not being there when they won last year was cruel. I’m also looking forward to going back into the office; to chatting with people face to face in the canteen. I’m also looking forward to being able to go out for meals with my family.