50 Years' of Kerry Group Expanding Horizons

On the 50th anniversary of the start-up of North Kerry Milk Products in the Canon’s Field outside Listowel, Professor Jim Kennelly will speak about the formation and very early days of the Kerry Co-op (the forerunner of the Kerry Group). At that time, as a small, undercapitalised dairy enterprise in a commodity business, it was seen by most as a highly risky endeavour with uncertain prospects of survival. Yet, drawing on the obvious material resources of the county, as well as the vision and determination of the firm’s early pioneers and the Kerry farmers who invested in it, the co-op not only survived, but thrived.

James J. (Jim) Kennelly is Professor of International Business at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and is currently a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the International Management Center at the University of Applied Sciences in Krems, Austria. Although Jim is a “Yank”, his father was born and reared in Finuge, in a small townland just three miles outside of Listowel, and he has deep connections to the county. He is the author of The Kerry Way: A History of the Kerry Group 1972-2000 and many other books and articles.

Pat Murphy qualified with a Master’s Degree in Food Chemistry from University College Cork in 1986. He has worked with Kerry Group for the past 35 years in various senior roles in RD&A, Business Development, Operations and General Management. He has been involved in the integration of various acquisitions that Kerry Group has made throughout Europe over the past 20 years. He currently heads up the Kerry Dairy Ireland division of Kerry Group which encompasses Agribusiness, Dairy and Nutritional Ingredients and the Dairy Consumer Foods.

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