Avonmore Creameries Federation was formed in 1966 when over 30 small rural co-operative Creamery societies from the Villages of County Kilkenny, Ireland, and together with the support of Unigate Limited a few Creameries from some neighbouring counties agreed to amalgamate. Unigate’s involvement ceased when in 1978 the cooperative bought back Unigate's stake in the Ballyragget facility.
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History
The Village Creameries amalgamation started when the Avonmore Creameries food brand was first created in 1966. Their Coop entity was registered as a public comnpnay in 1988, as Avonmore Food plc and later merged with Waterford Food plc in 1997. It is today known as Glanbia, a nutrition company with revenues of over €3.5 billion and 5,815 employees.
Avonmore in 1966 aimed to derive benefits from increased scale and greater diversification in the 1960s. It led to the construction of a multi-purpose Avonmore dairy plant facility in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, which they claimed was the biggest food processing facility in Europe of that time. Glanbia Plc was formed in 1997 out of the merger of Avonmore Foods plc and Waterford Foods plc. Both Avonmore and Glanbia have their origins in the Irish agricultural co-operative movement that evolved over the last century, ever since first Irish Co-operative in 1889 was founded by Horace Plunkett. Glanbia Plc now have operations in 34 countries and are exporting from Ireland to more than 100 countries worldwide. Their combined operations were ranked by revenues (in 2010 figures) in the top 100 Cooperatives, at No 98 Co-op in the world and at No 1 Co-op in Ireland, by the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), an international organisation of co-operatives.
The Glanbia Collection
According to Glanbia Collections in Kilkenny Archives at St Kieran's College, Kilkenny, the Avonmore Coop brand was created through the merger of the following Village Creameries that are included among their archives for:
Ballingarry Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Ballyhale Co-Operative Creamery Dairy Society Ltd.,Ballypatrick Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Avonmore Creameries Ltd., Ballyragget Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Bennettsbridge Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Callan Co-op Creamery and Dairy Society Ltd., Castlehale Co-Operative Dairy Society Ltd., Castlecomer Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Donaghmore Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Dungarvan Co Waterford Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Freshford Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Glenmore, County Kilkenny Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Graiguecullen, County Carlow Corn & Coal Co. Ltd., IDA Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Kells, County Kilkenny, Co-Operative Agricultural & Dairy Society Ltd., Kilmanagh, County Kilkenny Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Kilkenny City Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Leinster Milk Producers Association Ltd., Loughcullen County Kilkenny Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Miloko Co-Operative Society Ltd., Knockavendagh & Moylgass Killenaule Co-Operative Creamery Society Ltd., Muckalee County Kilkenny Co-Operative Dairy Society Ltd. Mullinavat Co-Operative Creamery Society Ltd., Piltown Co-Operative Society Ltd., Slieverue Co-Operative Creamery Ltd., Shelbourne Co-Operative Agriculture Society Ltd., Windgap Co-Operative Dairy Society Ltd., Letterkenny Timber Co. Ltd., The Bacon Company of Ireland, Inch Creamery (Awaiting to be catalogued), Barrowvale, Goresbridge Creamery (Awaiting to be catalogued).