Dairy Industry Ireland, the Ibec group that represents the sector, is hosting a two-day course that has been developed with Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and Food Drink Ireland Skillnet for food industry executives.
The course will increase employees’ understanding of the strategies and tools available to address the challenges posed by price volatility, which has increased significantly in the EU in recent years.
“While the Irish dairy processing industry has made great strides in the development of innovative solutions, such as the MilkFlex product, to help suppliers and the businesses themselves, it is clear that continued education and support is vital to continue this progress and ensure the Irish industry leads the way in this area,” said Conor Mulvihill, Director of Dairy Industry Ireland.
Cashflow, Planning & Budgeting
Declan O’Connor, a lecturer in CIT’s Department of Mathematics, said the level of price volatility has made price risk management much more difficult for the industry.
He did add, however, that previous initiatives that were launched to help the industry manage these issues were not as widely used in the European market as they should be.
“The main problems the industry face are cash flow problems, planning, and budgeting issues. The use of fixed milk price contracts and dairy derivatives will allow those along the supply chain to lock-in prices, so that when they go back to their boards, they are not showing huge variance in prices,” O’Connor said.
“For the suppliers, their expertise is growing grass, calving the cows, proper herd management. These tools give certainty of payment and planning, that is what farmers want.”
The two-day course has been designed to give key employees from a wide range of backgrounds in both the dairy and general food sectors a solid grounding of risk management tools including dairy derivatives.
It will take place on 26th and 27th November in the Killeshin Hotel in Portlaoise.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
