A look back at 2022, before leaping into 2023

With 2022 coming to a close, we wanted to take a moment to look back at the events that made 2022 a successful year for Dansko Foods. We would like to express our heartfelt thank you to all our suppliers, customers, and stakeholders. We are looking forward to working together in the new year.

Over the past 30 years, Dansko Foods has focused on continuous evolution-from redesigning processes and increasing collaboration with customers/suppliers. Not to mention how crazy dairy markets have been this year, from record high prices mid-year to crashing markets at year end it has been challenging to keep all sides of the supply chain happy. What a journey it has been!  Most importantly, we are honoured by the partnerships we have created along the way.  These partnerships are a key factor in success of Dansko Foods today.

2022 was a busy year here at Dansko Foods. Below are the few highlights of this year:

Despite the persistent market issues that were prevalent in Q1, we began the year by onboarding new customers into the business. Our Commercial Team was able to attend few conferences around the world this year including Gulfoods, Eucloit which happened to be an opportunity to meet with few of our suppliers and customers.

We had new Dansko team members on board with us this year, Josie Burke, John Biggs, and Gillian Shanahan.  In no time they have become integral part of the team. The well-Being of Employees is of great importance to Dansko Foods. We enjoyed a fantastic company day out on April 8th. We had speakers from AIB Charleville talking about pensions, Kilmallock Credit Union Ltd. talking about their offerings, and two wonderful speakers from Cuan Mhuire and Tj Ryan who effortlessly motivated the whole crowd. Chris O’​ Doherty and David O’Neill took the floor to present Dansko Food’s performance in the past year and our future goals. We then enjoyed a Barbeque lunch organized by Charleville Park Hotel. No better way to end a warm sunny day!

Dansko Foods was honoured to have participated in few awards shows this year including the international cheese & dairy awards, National Procurements Award and Limerick Chamber Awards. We were one of the shortlisted finalists for Best Supply Chain Team of the year category at National Procurement Awards. Dansko foods won ‘Supply Chain Innovation Award’ at Limerick Chamber Biz Awards. It is an honour to be recognised by the industry. We have been awarded an A grade in our recent BRC Audit. The BRC auditor praised Dansko staff on their knowledge, professionalism, and cooperation. In the spirit of the Holiday season, we had a secret Santa gift exchange at Dansko office and the secret Santa’s were revealed in our Christmas Party.

As we are looking forward to the holidays, we wish you a Happy Christmas and Best wishes for the New Year.

 

Global Supply Chain Challenges and their Impact on the Dairy Supply Chain

As most are now acutely aware, 2021 was one of the most disruptive years on record for our supply chains, and 2022 doesn’t seem to want to let up either. We have all faced challenges posed by Brexit, Covid-19 and the Coup de grâce: a transport crisis!

Brexit’s ongoing impact on the dairy supply chain

2021 certainly had its fair share of challenges for the Dairy Supply Chain in particular. The year started with uncertainty around Brexit (you could argue that it ended similarly) and operating under the new rules and processes for imports and exports from EU to UK and vice versa.

We saw wave after wave of Covid, and national lockdowns as a result. And then…. the real problems started to kick in leaving the overall Supply Chain strained at many different points.

Bottlenecks at various points of the supply chain interacting with each other

Global shortages appear to be caused by several interconnected factors:  COVID creates a shortage of workers, which has reduced production capacity around the world, distorted typical demand due to changing customer purchasing behaviour, and the fact that manufacturing and logistics systems are often operated at or near maximum capacity. Factories, ports, and trucking capacity are expensive, so they’re designed to continuously run at maximum capacity meaning there is little to no excess capacity. While running close to capacity makes production and distribution more cost-effective, it also means it doesn’t take much to overwhelm them. Because this is happening at more than one point in the supply chain, it becomes difficult to rebalance supply and demand. When ports are backed up with cargo ships, they often don’t have enough space for so many containers to be unloaded. Adding extra storage capacity for containers will require more trucks to transport the goods quickly, but there are not enough trucks to transport the goods, as so many trucks are holding goods for loading on ships.

Each bottleneck needs to be fixed and that exposes another bottleneck immediately. This process requires patience, careful analysis, and the cooperation of all stakeholders.

Labour shortages and their impact on the food supply chain

Labour shortages are being seen in all sectors. A national and international shortage of lorry drivers and workers for food processing plants has led to disruption for food outlets and warnings of empty supermarket shelves that are still prevalent today.

When we look across the water, to our neighbours in the UK, following worker shortages and transport disruption from Covid and Brexit, major retailers’ stock levels are at their lowest since 1983. A year in which the UK saw Margaret Thatcher win a general election, Jeremy Corbin, Tony Blair & Gordon Brown were newly elected members of parliament, mass unemployment, high inflation……and to top off the Misery, Liverpool won the old First Division.

To paint a clearer picture of how the global food supply chain has been disrupted, we need only look to the bigger companies, and the struggles they have faced:

• McDonalds had been forced to take milkshakes and bottled drinks off its menus.
• Nando’s announced the temporary closure of 45 outlets because of a shortage of chicken wings. Even KFC had a shortage of chicken!!

It all just goes to show that no matter how sophisticated we believe our supply chains to be, they too are fallible. There are many moving parts, it works as long as all the parts are present and are acting normally with respect to each other and it’s not a single link that failed in a linear system.

One slight reprieve is the UK Governments announcement to delay import controls for EU goods entering the UK… We’ll take that!

Dansko Foods’ approach to a challenging dairy supply chain

For an internationally operating company like Dansko Foods changes in the global supply chain, especially the dairy supply chain, have a big impact and we therefore have put in place various measures.

In 2021 we have expanded our wider Supply Chain team. Our newest member, Dhivya Vasudevan, has proven to be a pivotal part of our team, slotting in seamlessly since joining us, in what can only be described as a baptism of fire!

Our logistic lead Timmy Roche has also stepped up to the mark, making sure that despite all the disruptions to the transport industry, we have never had a situation where a trailer was not available to load our products. The same cannot be said for many.

What do our supply chains have to look forward to in 2022: price volatility, port congestion, rising freight costs, restructuring supply chains, labour and material shortages and inflation… Enjoy!

As a direct result of the above disruptions, we have had to revaluate our disruption & mitigation strategies. We have turned to sourcing from multiple service providers, in various locations, having excess stock built up for orders, and building in a spare capacity in our production to allow for staff shortages.

We have an opportunity to rethink our supply chain and to make it more resilient for our customers, suppliers, service providers and stakeholders.

We would like to thank our storage & transport partners who have worked with us to mitigate the issues we have all been facing, and we look forward to working closely with them through whatever else may come our way.

 

John Culhane, Supply Chain Manager.

Dansko works to A Sustainable Future With Origin Green

Dansko Foods with Origin Green

The key to future food production and consumption on a global scale is sustainability, and Dansko Foods is proud to be an Origin Green member. Origin Green is an exciting and inspirational initiative that we are proud to be partnered with, and we believe that the decisions we make today will set us up for a productive and sustainable future.

Origin Green is Ireland’s food and drink sustainability programme, and it unites many aspects of our food industry, from farmers and producers to food and beverage retailers in the shared goal of sustainable food production. Origin Green is designed to enable Ireland’s food industry to create measurable targets that prioritise the environment and serve local communities and to constantly reassess and improve upon these targets.

A Sustainable Future With Origin Green

Many businesses across Ireland are coming on board with the agenda, which can only be good for our planet, and here at Dansko Foods, we’re proud to be among the first. Just 45 dairy companies out of 619 companies are verified members of Origin Green, and we are delighted to be working in conjunction with other businesses towards a more sustainable future for all.

Here at Dansko Foods, we are committed to sustainability across our product range and within our company, and we have made a positive impact on our local environment in Kilmallock by planting shrubbery around our building. We have sponsored signage and information placards along the new town walk that promote interest in the local flora and fauna as well as the medieval buildings, and we work closely with local charities, promoting social sustainability by sponsoring events in the local area as well as individual projects.

Dansko Foods At GulFood 2022

We are excited to announce that we are heading to Dubai to attend the Gulfood exhibition. Gulfood is one of the largest Food and Beverage sourcing events in the world taking place between February 13 to February 17 at Dubai World Trade Centre. We are excited to discover the latest products, gauge market developments, and connect with global dairy partners.  

The Covid-19 pandemic has created severe challenges for all businesses around the world. With uncertainty being the key issue, many trade and business events were cancelled, and travel restrictions were in place as well. With the Pandemic coming to almost an end and with ease of restrictions we are happy to travel again to connect with new business partners in the safest face-to-face business space. 

Dansko Foods’s Previous Experience at Gulfood

We have attended Gulfood every year since 2015 and exhibited on several occasions in that time. While the Middle East is not our main market of focus, Gulfood offers a great opportunity to meet our partners in the area and for meeting exciting suppliers and customers that attend the fair from all over the world.  

Given the time of year, the good weather in Dubai is always a welcome break from the harsh winter of Europe. As a result, there is always a good energy to the fair with plenty of activity and buying/selling interest. This is particularly true when the market is in a state of flux and this year going to Gulfood, the market for dairy products is very hot and could possibly get hotter after a week of producers, buyers, traders all discussing where it might get to. Our view is that all indications are for a bullish start to the EU production season and with similar inflationary pressures in New Zealand and the United States of America it can only go in one direction. 

It will make for an interesting few days either way. Looking forward to seeing all our partners there. 

Our Products and Services 

Our Product Range includes only responsibly sourced Irish Dairy products from predominantly grass-fed cows. We specialize in Butter, Cheese, and Cream. Our dairy product page would give you more details on the products we offer. 

If you are attending Gul Foods in Dubai and are interested in our product range, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch to schedule a meeting. 

Sustainability at Dansko Foods Ltd

Sustainable Dairy Products

Dansko Foods “An Irish dairying business” as it says in our tag-line, our global dairy trade and value-add business predominantly revolves around Irish dairy raw materials which are grass-fed sourced. We continue to have the responsibility for supporting the world’s most sustainably produced cheese, butter, and cream to our customers.

We believe it is important in our journey towards our future business growth to sell, buy, trade, and process our products sustainably. The Climate Action Plan21 and EU’s climate action targets legislatively enforce us to measure, manage, and communicate our sustainability performance. Origin green 5-year plans have been an effective tool for our business, to review our brand responsibilities and to achieve and report our targets.

New Sustainable Production Facilities

Our next big project is to build and move to a new production facility -D2 in Kilmallock, Co. Limerick. The project encompasses changes in our operating model to increase product volume by expanding our product lines in our value-add business. The new project presents additional challenges for sustainability, as our overall resource consumption will increase, increasing our carbon footprint.

At present, the project is in the design phase which sets our baseline requirements. To overcome the challenges, we plan to collaborate with Enterprise Ireland (EI) and Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland(SEAI) to explore EI’s Green Offer and SEAI’s EXEED scheme for resource efficiency investments, water stewardship system, sustainable waste management system, smart lighting system, refrigeration energy solutions and green energy systems to reduce our carbon footprint.

Assessing and measuring resource efficiency

The first step in our vision is to scope our current carbon footprint and structure a sustainable culture in every strand of our business. As a first milestone we have successfully completed our Resource Efficiency Assessment through EI’s Climate Action Voucher collaborating with an energy solutions consultancy based in Charleville, Co. Cork.

The resource efficiency assessment points out existing gaps in our efficiencies and suggests energy efficiency opportunities like smart metering systems, refrigeration room destratification fans, efficient lighting systems as major opportunities in reducing carbon footprint. We will continue to work with EI on the templated green offer schemes to implement and counter the assessed gaps.

Sustainability- a key ingredient for the food and dairy industry

We share the common sustainability problem within the food industry to recycle food contact plastic packaging material. These are non-recyclable materials and there is currently a lack in available alternatives, that suffice the food safety regulations to preserve the quality of the product. We already have initiatives in place to reduce cardboard waste.

We are also working closely with Origin Green to set targets around emissions, packaging, Waste management, employee wellbeing, Community engagement and water stewardship as a five-year plan.

Our Directors David O’Neill (CEO), Suzanne O’Neill (Financial Director), and our management team are keen in leading a sustainable business by engaging with all levels of employees on upskilling where necessary and enforce the importance of reducing our carbon footprint.

Sustainability is a global concern, and the food industry will play a key role in how we reduce harmful carbon and methane gas emissions. Our upcoming sustainability projects will not only reduce our carbon footprint but will also promote sustainability across every aspect of our business from people to products and processes and to protect the future growth of our business. Indeed, sustainability has long been one of Dansko Food’s core values.

 

Madan Vijay, Quality Assurance Associate.

Irish Dairy Market trends Q4 ’21

It’s been a busy period in Dansko over the last two months with the beginning of our new Financial Trading Year in October and a very active market to contend with.

Bull market for Irish butter

After a steady bull market for Butter over the last 8 weeks we have seen prices being to taper off in the last week or so with more offers in the market and demand taking a breather. Most customers are covered now for Q4 with most activity and interest in the market generated through the trade.

Seasonal and weather impact on Irish Dairy Pricing

We have seen a seasonal increase in milk volumes across EU and cream prices beginning to come off to €6800/MT from the highs of €7300/mt. Weather conditions in Ireland have been unusually mild over Oct/Nov so far and ideal for grass growth – Irish Winter Butter supply will be strong this season. After a brief weakness in the market, we are seeing prices uptick again. Irish manufacturers are still very bullish on butter with current pricing €5050-5100/mt. Quotes into Q1 on futures remain high for fresh produce and are quoted at €5300/MT for certain EU origins.

Strong demand for cheese and Irish cheddar

The Cheddar market in contrast has shown no signs of weakness with Irish Mild Cheddar and Irish Cheddar Curd in very short supply. We were hearing Q1 ’22 prices for Edam/Gouda and Mozzarella all at lower levels than current Q4 pricing and wondered if this would have an impact on Irish Cheddar pricing. As our production season is different to the what happens across the continent [no production from mid Nov-early Feb] we do not see Irish Cheddar prices coming offer until at least end of Q1 next year and even then, we do not see a major correction given current demand and low stock positions.

Buoyant market for Irish dairy produce

Overall, very buoyant market for Irish dairy produce and Irish farmers – strong milk price, good weather conditions and strong returns from the market. Not much to complain about right now…. But we’re Irish, we’ll find a solution for that soon enough as well!

 

-David O’Neill, CEO