Concern’s been expressed at plans by an Irish company to acquire a controlling stake in New Zealand’s largest sheepmeat wholesaler.
Dawn Meats, which has a factory in south Kilkenny, has been selected as the preferred long-term strategic partner for the Alliance Group.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Breeders Association has called the move a ‘Betrayal’ to Irish Farmers and its Chair, Willie Shaw, told KCLR News Irish Sheep Farming could he in jeopardy;
“There’s generations of farmers after supplying Irish factories with lambs and this is the last thing we need to hear.”
“Dawn Meats built their empires on the backs of farmers, Irish farmers and sometimes British farmers so that’s the level of loyalty, as soon as that they see an opportunity to get a product cheaper, substantially cheaper somewhere else in the world.”
“It’s not as good a standard as ours, but it’s there all the same if that’s the level of loyalty to fill our markets, the ones that we’ve held for some not so long, but some there for decades, then the writing is on the wall for the rest of us.”
KCLR News has reached out to both Dawn Meats and the Alliance Group for comment.
