REVENUES AT Carbery, one of Ireland’s largest food and ingredients companies, increased by 14.5 per cent last year to €256.5 million.

Pretax profits jumped by 28 per cent to €8.7 million, as the ingredients business, which develops flavour and ingredient products for the sports nutritional and food industries, excelled. However, Carbery’s cheese business had a “challenging year”, according to the company, reflecting cheese markets.

The west Cork co-op produces a range of cheddar and low-fat cheese for the domestic and international markets, including the Dubliner cheese brand. It also exports cheese through the Irish Dairy Board under the Kerrygold label.

The group does not provide divisional breakdown of turnover.

Carbery’s flavours and ingredients business had a strong year, boosted by the acquisition of two US flavour companies in the second half – Ohio-based Sensus, and Sethness Greenleaf, an Illinois-based company which manufactures flavours for the drinks industry.

Carbery already has a significant flavour business, Synergy, which operates across the US and Britain, producing sweet and savoury ingredients for the food and drink industry.

In addition, Carbery’s dairy ingredients business, which produces whey-based ingredients for the nutritional industry, had a strong year, the group said, delivering a number of new products across the infant nutrition, sports nutrition and clinical nutrition market sectors.

Carbery said its Britain and Ireland sports nutrition range, Kinetica, “continues to grow strongly in its target markets of Ireland and the UK”.

Carbery is owned by four Cork co-ops, Bandon, Barryroe, Lisavarid and Drinagh. As well as its centres in Cork, it has operations elsewhere in Europe, North America, Brazil, Thailand and the Philippines.