The Milk Business

What’s the difference between milk protein isolates and concentrates – what’s fast and what’s slow protein, what’s the difference between plant and animal protein – what is the future of protein and will we need animals at all very soon. This week to find out more about protein Jack Kennedy talks to Andre Bordkrob from Moorepark Food Research Centre in Cork, Ireland.  Following a barrage of questi...

In this week's episode we visited a new development called Kilkenny Cheese on the East coast of Ireland. It's a Joint Venture investment between a family run company headquartered in the Netherlands called Royal A-ware and Tirlan, an Irish co-op based in the East of Ireland. Kilkenny Cheese make soft cheeses Edam and Gouda with by products of whey and cream processed at other Tirlan locations in I...

The Mid Term elections are coming up in the US – the World Dairy Expo was on last week in Madison – the US dairy industry has been flying and continues to fly – this week we get an update on the most fascinating aspect of the global dairy business - the US dairy scene. We also chat milk suppliers from New Zealand, the Netherlands, England and Ireland. 

This week we have a peep under the protein bonnet of three leading global dairy companies – Leprino in the US, Arla in Europe and Tatua in New Zealand as we attempt to answer the question everybody is asking will unprecedented US dairy expansion in milk production and processing mean protein prices collapse next year and that the wheels come off the protein train. We hear from suppliers in New Zea...

How many of you have heard of the Global Dairy Platform? Well, it’s an international organisation that represents the global dairy sector. This week Jack Kennedy sits down with it’s CEO Donald Moore to get the low down on what role it plays for the dairy sector and how it operates as an organisation. 

As New Zealand heads for peak milk, Europe recovers from its summer drought and the US continues to pump more milk onto global markets what is the outlook and the mood music for September and October on global  dairy markets. This week Jack Kennedy maps market sentiment with John Lancaster from StoneX. We also hear from milk suppliers from the North Island and South Island of New Zealand, England,...

Arla - one of the most successful if not the most successful cross border co-ops. Where often neighbouring co-ops can’t sit in the same room Arla have taken co-operation to the next level in a period of 25 years. This might sound like a long time but in generational co-operation across countries it’s absolutely not. Arla last week announced excellent half year results - so this week because Jack K...

This week Jack Kennedy talks to milk suppliers from all over Europe about how they are going to react to rising farm gate milk prices and what milk supply is doing in each country as it counts the cost of the long dry summer. We also hear from Australia, and New Zealand as they reach the end of calving and milk supply starts to crank up. 

This week Jack Kennedy talks to economist Matt Dilly from ANZ bank in New Zealand about the 30% rise in dairy land sales in New Zealand, and how the El Nino might impact on New Zealand dairy farming. We hear about drone spraying and spreading in Australia, we hear about 'Shamonda like' virus in the Netherlands and maize yields only half of what was expected in Southern England. 

Sentiment on dairy markets is improving – this week we wrap up some of the key drivers of milk market sentiment in the key milk producing parts of the world that impact on global dairy trade which in turn impact farm gate milk price into the future. We also hear from our contributors in New Zealand, Denmark, Germany, France, England, Scotland and Ireland about what's happening or in the news in ea...

The dairy protein industry is riding the crest of a wave – whey protein isolate and concentrate prices are orbiting where nobody ever expected – demand is off the charts. One of the very first companies globally to invest in membrane technology to essentially create these whey protein products was Carbery – a relatively small but niche Irish based company working out of South West Cork. Its not on...

This week we take an August bank holiday recap and review of the last 20 episodes of the Milk Business podcast. We pull out the best bits - ask what has happened in that space since we published the particular podcast, and look forward to the next couple of months in the Milk Business. 

Five ways the US are hammering the rest of the world on milk and why is American dairy different now to what it was before? After considerable feed back on our two most recent US speakers – Mary Ledman and Darragh Maccabee I was contacted by a number of listeners asking why is the US scoring big on milk compared to the EU, and I got a good few ‘why does it matter’ type of questions. This week in 5...

Idaho Milk Products have been in the milk protein game for nearly 20 years. Now they’ve just joined the ice cream game. Is it a pivot, is it more of the same? As wildfires sweep Europe Jack Kennedy talks to Idaho Milk Products CEO Daragh Mccabee as they have just invested over $200m US dollars in a new state of the art ice cream plant officially opened in May of this year. For almost 20 years they...

The English football team are coming home from the world cup. Irish dairy company Dairygold are selling part of their UK dairy business. New Zealand giants Fonterra are looking to once again supply large volumes into the UK dairy market, and weight loss medication is going on sale in the UK this week in tablet form – it’s all change at the top of the English milk business. This week Jack Kennedy t...

The US dairy Industry is riding the crest of a wave – the processing sector is investing like never before – the US government and political institution really wants farmers and the dairy industry to thrive. Consumers can’t get enough dairy protein. This week, podcast host Jack Kennedy, talks to Mary Ledman, former head of dairy at Rabobank and a global expert who has spent her career talking to a...

Europe is well behind the US and New Zealand when it comes to milk price management tools for hedging milk price. This week host Jack Kennedy gets the insights of a trading expert John O'Driscoll who was globally trading dairy and other food commodities to hear his thoughts on risk management to make margins and returns more predictable and consistent. We also hear from milk suppliers around the w...

With dairy companies announcing new mergers and acquisitions at renewed pace in 2026 this week podcast host Jack Kennedy talks to a global expert on why it's all happening and what dairy companies not in the M&A space need to consider. As Europe melts in extreme heat we are talk melting of a different sort this week as dairy companies around the world continue to merge, bolt-on, change, divers...

With a new strategy in place for global dairy giant Fonterra, a template and a history in share farming and equity partnerships, and an industry that is treating livestock emissions differently to many other countries – the global dairy industry needs to hear more from New Zealand. This week the Milk Business podcast host Jack Kennedy talks to Nicola Shadbolt from New Zealand about some of the fun...

If the airline industry can ride the storms of higher energy prices why can’t the dairy industry? Europe is playing catch up to the rest of the world on milk price risk management. The US dairy industry is leading the way on options for protecting margins. This week Jack Kennedy talks to global expert broker John Lancaster from StoneX on his experience, recommendations and advice on what the next...

Since 2021 Kerry Group plc have started to evolve their existing milk business into a stand alone business unit. In December 2024 Kerry shareholders and milk suppliers voted unamimously to take back the milk business into majority co-op ownership. This Kerry milk business that was previously called Kerry Dairy Ireland – now has been rebranded Kinisla. This podcast carries the full interview betwee...

After a recent period of turbulance it seems calm has been restored on what was 'the Kerry way', but now is 'the Kinisla way'. World renowned Kerry Group plc still own 30% of the Kinisla dairy business, however, milk suppliers are back in control of the Kinisla co-op now. This week Jack Kennedy sat down in Kinisla headquarters to meet with CEO Pat Murphy to talk changes, where for the future, and...

This week there were some very interesting global dairy news stories so Jack Kennedy said he’d package them together to bring a flavour of some of the breaking news in the dairy game. Fonterra announced financial results and announced a forecast milk price for the rest of the 2025/2026 season, and also another forecast milk price for 2026/2027 season. The Arla merger with DMK and DOC was formally...

This week on the Milk Business Podcast Jack Kennedy talks to a global expert from Ireland on what’s happening globally in terms of trying to tie down what revenue, milk price or even margin milk suppliers are getting around the world. MTU expert Declan O Connor from Cork in Ireland has many years of experience lecturing the industry on the benefits of risk management to the dairy industry. We also...

This week given the significance to world trade of a meeting between the Presidents of US and China Jack Kennedy chats to Ian Lahiffe in Beijing about the 'meeting', milk production in China, Taiwan, Foot and Mouth, and Chinese whole milk powder imports. We also hear from dairy farmers around the world discuss key issues facing them as we head into the last week of May.