Closing of food label loophole behind projected 600 Carton jobs

A tightening of labelling laws is one of the factors behind Carton Brothers’ promise of 600 new jobs for the area over the next five years.
Whilst a national newspaper reported that all of the new jobs would be based in County Cavan, speaking to The Anglo-Celt, the company’s marketing manager Brendan Nolan clarified that some would also be based in its facilities in Monaghan, and County Meath headquarters.
Mr Nolan could not provide details of the type of jobs, or the timeframes for when they would come on stream, explaining that they were still in the planning stages of expansion. That expansion projects an increase of output to 1.5 million chickens per week, up from the current 850,000 per week. Industry norms see one job created per 1,100 chickens processed, hence the predicted 600 jobs.
In terms of the type of jobs created, Mr Nolan could only say it would be across a “broad spectrum” and “throughout the company”.
“We just don’t know ourselves because we’re still in the planning process of what we’re doing,” he said.
Mr Nolan added that the company’s reported €25 million investment into the expansion plans will be spread across all its facilities.
“We’re vertically integrated production, so we have our own feedmill, we work with a hatchery, and we have a head office, so it’s going to be across all of that.”
Will it involve construction work? “There will be an increase in building facilities yes,” he said.
Mr Nolan enthused that their current 849-strong workforce boasts a rich ethnic diversity and some of their staff are their family’s third generation to work for Carton Brothers. He insists that the importance of the company extends beyond direct employment.
“Think of all of the additional people employed because of the factory. We have 174 farmers, they are contracted to us although they are not employees; we use haulage companies, so you can probably put another hundred on top of the 174. As an employer in the area, what would happen if something happened the company? It’s huge.”
He reflected on where the company, “the largest employer” in Shercock, had come since it relocated north from Dublin.
“When we went there in 1970 there were two cars in the whole village, and people were awestruck when they saw the size of the building that was actually going up. It is a 40-acre site we have up in Shercock - and the old one that was built in 1970 is completely dwarfed by what’s there now.”
The Celt asked if the expansion re-inforced the importance of the shelved East-West Link project, which would have greatly enhanced road network from Dundalk to Sligo, via a number of towns including Shercock. Mr Nolan said he could not comment on it.
Increased demand
Asked what’s driving the increase in demand and he pointed to chicken’s status as a cheap and healthy source of protein, and also stressed the change in legislation since April 1 requiring the bird’s country of birth to be stated on the label.
“Up to this you had that chicken could come into this country and if it was substantially transformed, it could come from anywhere [and still be labelled Irish chicken] - which it was. It could come from Far East, it could come from South America, it could come from anywhere.”
Mr Nolan observed that the threshold to meet the ‘substantially transformed’ criteria was very low:
“If it came in, in bulk, and was put into different types of packaging it would be substantially transformed.”
He confirmed that 100% of their chickens are Irish born.
“Everything that comes out of the factory in Shercock is 100% Irish chicken, born and bred. That is where we are targetting a lot of our increase, because no one knows whether their chicken is Irish or not,” he said.