Avonmore Celebrates 25 Years of Soup-er Success
Glanbia Consumer Products’ Kilkenny-based soup production facility in Ireland celebrates 25 years in operation this month, producing over three million packs of Avonmore fresh soup annually. Originally launched in 1991 with five flavours – Mixed Vegetable, Chicken & Vegetable, Cream of Chicken, Tomato & Basil and Creamy Potato & Leek – Avonmore pioneered the introduction of fresh soup onto the Irish market and continues to grow the market with an expanding range of product and convenient formats to suit all tastes and occasions.
Today, the Kilkenny site produces 14 different varieties of fresh soup to meet changing consumer tastes and requirements. New innovations in recent years include the Avonmore ‘Feel Good’ range for those looking for a healthy low calorie option and the creation of a premium smooth soup in a tub format, for convenient dining, in three new flavours; Vine Tomato & Parmesan, Select Vegetable with Flat Leaf Parsley and Slow Cooked Chicken & Vegetable.
The Kilkenny facility employs 44 people. The Avonmore soup range is developed at Glanbia’s Innovation Centre in Kilkenny.
Product Development Chef, Barry Foley (pictured), comments: “Irish consumers have a strong affinity with fresh soup and seek out products that taste great and are convenient to eat. We work very closely with our network of local suppliers to ensure only the best quality ingredients are used in making our soups here in Kilkenny.”
Glanbia Consumer Products is a leading supplier of branded consumer products to the Irish market. Its Avonmore brand is the most chosen grocery brand in Ireland while other brands include Kilmeaden, the largest block cheddar cheese brand and a range of leading local milk brands including Premier milk. Its product offering focuses primarily on dairy products and includes standard and fortified milks, along with cheese, butter and cream as well as a range of chilled soups.
Glanbia Consumer Products is part of Glanbia, the global nutrition company, which generates a turnover of over €3.6 billion per annum, employs more than 6,000 people and has a presence in 32 countries worldwide.
