SUPPORTING a leading milk price and helping to secure the future of family farming in West Cork are among the priorities of newly-appointed chair of Carbery Group, John O’Brien.

The full-time dairy farmer from Barryroe, is the chair of Barryroe Co-op and current vice-chair of Carbery Group. His appointment was announced this week and he succeeds Vincent O’Donovan, who has completed a two-year term.

John was first elected to the Board of Barryroe Co-op in 1988 and has served the co-op in a range of board and leadership roles, including as Chair from 2007 to 2014 and in his current term as chair. He has also served on the Carbery Group Board on several occasions, including a previous term as chair, and was a member of the Board of Ornua from 2010 to 2014.

 He has completed corporate governance programmes at UCC and DCU and served as President of the Irish Grassland Association in 2002/03 and at local, county and national executive level of Macra na Feirme. He has also contributed to the local community and rural development at a local and national level. 

He said he was ‘deeply honoured’ to take on the role at the global food and ingredients producer headquartered in Ballineen.

It employs 1049 people, with 1127 local farmer suppliers and operates from 11 locations including Ireland, the UK, the USA, Brazil, Italy, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand and supplies customers in more than 50 countries worldwide. 

‘Carbery is a business with strong co-operative roots in West Cork and a growing international presence across dairy, nutrition and taste. The board’s responsibility is to ensure that the business remains strong, resilient and focused on long-term value for our farmer shareholders, while continuing to serve customers, support our people and invest for future growth,’ said John.

Another priority of his he said is ‘ensuring Carbery continues to grow through innovation, sustainability and disciplined investment.’ 

His  appointment comes as Carbery continues to grow as a diversified global food and ingredients business. The organisation reported revenue of €723m in 2025, with strong underlying performance across its Dairy, Nutrition and Taste divisions. Carbery group continues to focus on international growth, customer-led innovation and operational discipline in delivering long-term value and resilience for farmer shareholders in West Cork.