Manufacturing & Supply Chain

John Jordan (pictured), Chief Executive of Ornua, Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, is to step down to take up a new role as Chief Operating Officer at a US-based private equity company. The process of selecting a new Chief Executive will begin immediately. The Board of Ornua has appointed current Chief Financial Officer, Donal Buggy as interim Chief Executive to lead the organisation during the transition period.

Ornua is an Irish dairy co-operative that markets and sells dairy products on behalf of its Members, Ireland’s dairy processors and, in turn, Irish dairy farmers. Headquartered in Dublin, Ornua has a strong global team of 3,000 employees, operating from 10 business units worldwide, including 16 production facilities. Ornua’s core purpose is to build profitable routes to market for Irish dairy products.

Ornua Co-operative Chair Aidan O’Driscoll said: “John Jordan has been an excellent Chief Executive for Ornua over the past five years, and prior to that he held several other key management roles. John has given a huge part of his professional life to Ornua, as he joined us approximately 30 years ago. It has been a privilege to work with him, and on behalf of the Board, the Executive and the rest of the Ornua team, I want to thank John for all his efforts and wish him the very best for the future.

“I am very pleased that we are in a position to appoint someone of the quality of Donal Buggy as interim CEO. Donal has been CFO at Ornua since 2013 and is widely known and highly respected by Ornua staff, customers and industry peers. The Board and I are very confident in his ability to lead Ornua ably during the coming period. John Jordan will work with the Board and Donal to ensure a smooth and efficient transition.”

John Jordan said: “It has been a huge honour for me to be the Chief Executive of Ornua, and to have spent three decades working in this business. I am so proud of the positive impact that Ornua creates for its Co-Op shareholders and in turn for the 14,000 Irish dairy farming families that supply them and enable Ornua to create world-class premium products for our customers globally. I am confident that Ornua will go from strength to strength. We have great brands and a brilliant team.”