The Milk Business

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 Kennedy was inundated with queries he decided to do something different and just stand back to admire and understand a bit more about how Arla operates. Net profit jumped 35% to €...

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 each country. 

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 only milk protein that makes money for Carbery – taste and flavours have been good for business also. 

This week Jack Kennedy sits down with Jason Hawkins, CEO at Carbery. Previously Jason worked with Kerr...

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 key points I want to summarise why I think the US is on a completely different track to EU milk a...

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 have led in the milk protein game – why the move into ice cream now? 

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 talks to Chris Walkland about football, warm weather, Fonterra, rising UK farmgate milk prices, UK milk supply crashing, and he has some advice for Irish co-op Dairygold sell...

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 and working with the global dairy industry. We also hear updates from around the world on what's happening on milk supply, feed availability, milk pricing and recent innovation. 

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 world to keep a handle on what's happening supply. 

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, diversify, grow and develop. This week Dutch based expert Mark Voorbergen, an independent consultant working in the field of strategy, finance and mergers with global dairy companies joins us on the...

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 fundamental challenges to dairy farming and how the Kiwi's are managing these new changes. We also hear from milk suppliers from Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, New Zealand and Australia. 

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 steps should be. We also hear from farmers around the world as they prepare for calving in New Zealand and making winter feed in Europe. 

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 between Jack Kennedy and Kinisla CEO Pat Murphy.

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 how Kinisla expect to better compete on a global stage. We also hear from milk suppliers in New Zealand, Australia, France, and the Netherlands. 

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 approved by the EU, over 12 months after it was first announced, and, the company formerly known as Kerry Dairy Ireland re-booted it's journey under a new name, Kinisla. 

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 hear from farmers in New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands, France, England, Brazil and Ireland on what they are doing to manage risk. 

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. 

The majority of European milk is purchased by co-operatives (c.60%), however, a large chunk of milk produced in major European milk producing countries such as France, the UK and Germany is purchased by private companies. 

One of the key differences between private and co-operatives entities is that milk suppliers are not the owners of the business, and hence processing investment decisions, milk payment decisions and retained earnings for growth are in the hands of private owners not milk suppliers. 

Frischli, is a German private milk processing company and is one of the most modern and hi...

This week on the milk business podcast we report from the 2026 Dairy Industry Newsletter annual conference in London. A host of global experts gathered to discuss what they expect to happen to global milk supply as commodity dairy prices and milk prices to farmers mean some of the actual farmgate milk prices are some of the worst experienced for the last 20 years. We also hear from suppliers around the world as they describe the key issues impacting in their region. 

Fonterra, the heavyweight dairy giant headquartered in New Zealand, is starting out on a new chapter without a consumer business. It is now setting out it's stall as a high tech protein business driven by an ingredients powerhouse. Will it work? Is there merit to this new strategy? In this episode we ask Leonie Guiney, ex director of Fonterra and now shareholder and farmer in the South Island of New Zealand her thoughts on the new vision and strategy.  

On this weeks show we talk to Dr Maha Tahiri about first understanding what is meant by 'Ultra-processed', and secondly, what challenges are presented to the dairy industry by this process. She has some very clear advice for companies and also some great insights into how to address the issue. We also have a 'Insight special' on Chobani - the American company that has revolutionised the yoghurt category in the US and is now setting its sights on the coffee market. 

On this episode of The Milk Business Jack Kennedy talks to Dr Maha Tahiri, a global nutrition consultant on how companies should react to the 'GLP1 Tsunami' that is engulfing consumers the world over. We also hear from farmers around the world to get a handle on global milk supply. Dairy Farmers of America have just launched a new product called MULU - we preview it and talk about increasing costs of milk processing. 

In the first two parts of the Protein Rush we talked about the dairy protein revolution that is sweeping across the world at the moment. In this episode, part three, and the final episode in this Protein Rush series, we dig into how the demand for protein is changing the commercial reality for dairy businesses with Aoife Murphy, Chief Commercial Ingredients executive with Tirlan in Ireland. Aoife has worked with Glanbia and Tirlan and both are huge global players in the protein game. 

In part two of the Protein Rush Jack Kennedy chats to Professor Paddy Wall about the Food First Strategy in China, how the Chinese infant formula market fundamentally changed, and we ask can you overload on protein consumption?  

Jack Kennedy talks with Professor Patrick Wall about the global protein rush and how weight loss drugs are part of the driver for increased dairy protein consumption globally. We hear from dairy farmers around the world. We profile a new product produced by Lactalis onsale in the United States and we discuss the latest milk market moves.