West Cork co-operative Carbery Group has appointed Joost van de Rakt (pictured) to the newly established role of Chief Operations Officer (COO) at the processor.

A spokesperson for Carbery said that the COO will provide “end-to-end leadership across operations and supply chain” ensuring that the company is better positioned to “scale with agility, share best practice across sites and regions in Europe, and consistently deliver excellence to our customers and partners”.

Van de Rakt is an industry veteran with over 35 years experience in the European food and ingredients industry.

He spent much of that time with FreislandCampina including in roles as global director of supply chain and as director of product strategy. Carbery said: “Joost is a values-driven leader who believes in empowering people, fostering collaboration, and building high-performing teams.”

Carbery reported an operating profit of €24.8m in 2024 on revenue of €668m.

Earlier this year company CEO Jason Hawkins told the Irish Farmers Journal that he is optimistic about the future for the dairy industry saying: “All the market dynamics point to demand for dairy going up and I don’t see where this extra milk is going to come from.”