Well-known meat industry executive Rory Fanning has retired. The Wexford native will be forever associated with Slaney Meats, in its many iterations over the years, having spent over four decades with the firm. He was CEO of Slaney International for over a decade, prior to the company’s purchase by ABP in 2016. In the years that followed, Fanning was general manager of ABP Slaney. Although brought up on a mixed sheep and tillage farm at Kilanerin in north Wexford, Fanning took an unusual route into beef processing. Following the completion of a history and politics degree in UCD, he joined the IFA for a period before moving on to CBF (the precursor of Bord Bia).
Well-known meat industry executive Rory Fanning has retired. The Wexford native will be forever associated with Slaney Meats, in its many iterations over the years, having spent over four decades with the firm. He was CEO of Slaney International for over a decade, prior to the company’s purchase by ABP in 2016. In the years that followed, Fanning was general manager of ABP Slaney. Although brought up on a mixed sheep and tillage farm at Kilanerin in north Wexford, Fanning took an unusual route into beef processing.
Following the completion of a history and politics degree in UCD, he joined the IFA for a period before moving on to CBF (the precursor of Bord Bia).
In 1984 he joined Slaney, which was then owned by the Allen family and run by Bert Allen. Fanning says he was lucky to have worked with some of the giants of the beef industry, such as the aforementioned Bert Allen, the senior executives with Linden Foods and more recently, Larry Goodman.
Asked if he’d miss the beef industry, Fanning answered with a very definite “yes”.
“I loved it so much, and enjoyed it so much; the answer to that question has to be yes,” he said.
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