Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Fixed-Milk Price Contracts: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. John Jordan:

Ultimately, in most of these situations, it is the consumer. We have all entered contracts that at a point in time looked good, whether it was us to our customers, their customers to customers or pricing at retail. What is in Ornua's purchase and sales is reflected in our financial performance. In 2021, we paid record high product prices. The Ornua value payment is not to be underestimated. It was €78 million in 2021, which was up from €30 million five years ago. In terms of the financial performance of Ornua, we pay a significant portion of that back to our member co-ops.