Employment

Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition to create 50 new jobs

By Business & Finance
24 November 2014

Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation today officially opened Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition’s extended facility in Wexford. The recently completed expansion is the final phase of a €180m investment programme that has taken place at the company’s Irish operations in Macroom and Wexford over the past four years.

By the end 2014 employment will have increased at Danone in Ireland from 180 to over 400 people – this figure includes the additional 50 jobs that are being created as part of the investment announced today. The recruitment process for the 50 new roles has commenced, and all roles are expected to be filled by the end of this year.

Speaking about the announcement, Minister Bruton said:  “I am delighted to be back in Wexford to announce the creation of a further 50 new jobs at the Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition facility. Three years ago my Department put in place the South East Plan to deal with the historic unemployment problems in this region – today’s announcement is the latest in a string of announcements, from Irish companies in particular, that have contributed to jobs growth of over 14,000 in the region in the past three years. These high quality manufacturing jobs will have a major knock-on impact on the local economy in particular in the dairy industry. I wish Donal and his team every success with this project.”

Commenting about today’s jobs announcement and the official opening of the extended facility, Donal Courtney, managing director, Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition Ireland said: “We have a significant track record of growth and investment in Ireland over the past four years. This reflects both a growing demand for our products in the European and Asian markets as well as the high regard in which the Irish operations are held amongst the Danone Groupe. Locating our state of the art new generation packaging line in Wexford reinforces the strategic nature of the Irish based operations. This investment would not have been possible without the support of Minister Bruton and his colleagues at Enterprise Ireland – we are very grateful for their continued support.”

Operations director for Danone in Ireland, Donal Dennehy spoke about the strength of Ireland’s reputation in helping to attract further investment: “We are delighted that as Danone’s operations grow in Ireland so too do the Co-ops that supply us the milk to manufacture our base powders. Danone is an integral part of the agricultural and farming community and are proud members of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme. We will continue to work with our suppliers and partners from the Dairy Industry to further enhance the sustainability efforts that we have in place and to ensure that our growth has a long term positive impact on our economy, the community and society.”