Arrabawn caps successful year
Positive outlook for 2023
A hugely positive year for Arrabawn Co-Op was capped with an annual and special general meeting that has put a successful seal on 2022 and pointed positively also to the future.
A record attendance for an Arrabawn AGM, which saw over 200 people at the Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh, got through a packed agenda, the high points of which were the presentation of the 2022 accounts and the milk quality awards.
The accounts reflected the company’s best year yet, with the highlights including turnover surpassing €500m for the first time and suppliers achieving a record average milk price.
The AGM is also a day for celebrating the high standards achieved by suppliers at Arrabawn through the company’s quality awards, with the Milk Supplier of the Year 2022 going to Ballycommon, Nenagh farmer Peter Clarke. Peter will now represent Arrabawn at the NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2023.
Overall Milk Quality Award winner was Brian Hayes from Borrisokane, with Bernard Kelly from Athlone taking the Overall Cell Count award and Pat Guinan from Moate winning the Total Bacteria Count award.
The AGM was followed by a Special General Meeting (SGM) that saw a number of key resolutions carried, including for greater a geographical spread on the Restructure of Representative Committee. This resolution will provide, for the first time, for the inclusion of suppliers from the east and south of the country on the Representative Committee, reflecting the growth of members in those regions over recent years.
The SGM also carried a resolution for a second independent director to be appointed to the board, a move that will bring in more external expertise and greater diversity to the board.
A motion was also carried limiting the number of terms members can sit on the board to three periods of five years. Meanwhile, a fourth resolution was also carried to reduce the number of elected members on the board from 18 to 14.
CEO Conor Ryan said: “It was a very important and positive gathering. The AGM allowed us to look back on the very successful year we had and acknowledge the achievement of the record performance, which came about as a result of our ongoing investment in modernising the plant, the efforts of our staff and the quality of our suppliers but also the exceptional year for dairy markets.
“Our Special General Meeting saw members agree a number of key resolutions that, from both a representative committee and board perspective, will enhance the governance of our organisation, which is very important as we continue to drive the organisation forward.”