Strategy

The Group's international growth strategy is well established and is based on interconnected businesses incorporating nutritional ingredients and cheese.

Glanbia has successfully grown its international businesses - nutritional ingredients and cheese - in recent years and further strategic opportunities exist to develop and grow further in our chosen areas of focus. These growth opportunities are underpinned by ongoing consolidation in fragmented markets, strong structural market growth drivers, favourable consumer trends, and the ability to expand, Performance Nutrition in particular, on a global basis. We have focused scale businesses and well developed science-based innovation capability as a result of significant investment in people and facilities. We have established leading market positions in international growth markets, supported by strong routes to market that include in-country representation through local sales offices and strong agent and distributor relationships.

Nutritional Ingredients

Glanbia produces 64,000 tonnes of whey-based nutritional ingredients and value-added whey products from a large captive whey pool, which is derived from the Group's cheese processing operations.

The Global Nutritionals business unit has developed three platforms for growth that utilise this large whey pool. Through the application of increasing rates of innovation, a focus on growth markets and expansion into complementary non-dairy nutritional solutions, Global Nutritionals is building a scalable business with sustainable higher margins.

Performance Nutrition is a business-to-consumer manufacturer, formulator and marketer of products for performance, sport and the health and wellness sectors. This business is founded on the Group's 2008 acquisition of Optimum Nutrition in the USA and has the opportunity to develop as a global brand in performance nutrition.

Customised Premix Solutions is a business-to business supplier of a broad range of micronutrients, particularly vitamins and minerals and is a leading supplier to the infant formula and sports beverage sectors in Europe and the USA.

Ingredient Technologies is a business-to-business whey-based ingredient applications developer that offers enhanced nutritional solutions for the sports bar, beverage and clinical foods sectors.

Nutritional Ingredients structural growth drivers

US Cheese

Glanbia has built up world-class capability in cheese processing in the USA with a wholly-owned business in Idaho and a major joint venture in New Mexico; both low cost milk regions. US Cheese is a business-to-business, large scale, low cost, quality producer that is designed to operate 24/7, 365 days of the year at 100% of its rated capacity.

It sells cheese to companies who cut and package for the retail sector and to businesses who make a range of special ingredient-type cheeses, which are ultimately converted into processed cheese slices for the food service sector.

In 2009 US Cheese and Southwest Cheese produced 340,000 tonnes of American-style cheddar cheese, creating a market leading share in terms of total US cheddar cheese output. These businesses deliver customer value by making 'gold medal' quality dairy products at competitive price points. Glanbia recently won 12 medals in the World Cheese championships; a business and industry leading performance.

US Cheese structural growth drivers

Looking ahead

This is a unique period in the Group's development that represents a transformational opportunity. We need to find the best strategic way forward for the Group, so that Glanbia continues to develop successful and profitable businesses that contribute meaningfully for all stakeholders. The opportunity at hand is to recognise the structural change that has occurred in our operating environment and to grasp the strategic prospect of unlocking the Group's potential.