3 days ago
Cork food firm Ingredient Solutions opens new €15m cheese production facility
Cheese processing firm Ingredient Solutions is aiming to push turnover beyond €130m and begin recruiting new staff with the opening of a new €15m production facility in Co Cork.
Ingredient Solutions opened 25 years ago, on the site of the old Boherbue Creamery in Duhallow. A quarter of century later, the company is preparing to move production into its new state-of-the-art seven-acre plant 200m away, as it looks to export to 70 countries.
Turnover at Ingredient Solutions has now reached €65m annually, making 14,000 tonnes of cheese products. 'With the opening of the new plant, we are now looking to double that turnover over the coming years,' said chief executive Gary Davies.
Ingredient Solutions provides cheese ingredients and products across many sectors of the food industry, with cheese products made in Boherbue on supermarket shelves across Ireland and the UK, and products used in the food industry right across the world. The cheese produced includes everything from grated and sliced cheeses to pizza toppings and vegan alternatives, with the bulk of the cheese used in production sourced locally. The cheese is sold globally in the food trade under the 'Yellow Road' brand, with the name coming from the English translation of Boherbue.
In May 2022, Australian private cheese firm Rupp bought out Ingredient Solutions but Rupp has continued to invest in the Duhallow plant.
Rupp Board members Laura Rupp, John Broekmans, Mathias Gattermayer, Daniel Marte, Stefan Walter, and Ingredient Solutions managing director Gary Davies.
The new facility opened on Tuesday and production will begin there next month, boosting capacity, exports, and long-term employment in the Duhallow region. It includes 5,000 square metres of production and storage space, increasing chilled capacity to over 1,600 pallets and enabling the company to scale from 12,000 to 27,000 tonnes annually, with future expansion potential to 35,000 tonnes.
'We've truly outgrown our original facility in terms of capacity. We've built this new facility not just to meet today's needs, but to secure our ability to innovate and grow in the years ahead,' Mr Davies told the Irish Examiner.
Mr Davies said that from a company started by founder Ian Galletly with five employees in the year 2000, Ingredient Solutions now employs close to 100 people in Duhallow, North Cork, with plans to recruit around 50 new staff in the next eight years.
The Ingredient Solutions management team: Back row: Agnieszka Sobkow - Finance Manager; Tadgh Corkery, UK and Ireland Sales Manager; Paul Aherne, production Manager; Gary Davies, managing director; Ian Galletly, former managing director; Esther Linehan, HR and Finance Manager. Front Row: Suma Lakshmana, technical manager; Karen O'Callaghan, export manager, Ted Healy factory manager, Claire O'Gorman - procurement manager.
The event was attended by government representatives, industry leaders, and local stakeholders, including John Broekmans, chief executive of Ingredient Solutions' Austrian-based parent company Rupp, Mayor of Co Cork Cllr Joe Carroll, Minister of State Michael Moynihan TD, Cllr Bernard Moynihan, and Fr Jim Kennelly, who offered a blessing of the facility.
'This is not just a local success story — it's a strategic investment in the future of food production in Ireland and beyond," said Deputy Moynihan. "As the global population grows, Ireland must lead in producing sustainable, high-quality food. This facility proves rural communities like Boherbue are more than ready to meet that challenge.'
"Ian Galletly arrived here 25 years ago with a dream, and he delivered. What was once a shed is now a world-class production site."
