Glanbia plc (/ˈɡlɒnbiə/ GLON-bee-ə)[a] is an Irish multinational nutrition company that owns several consumer brands that produce lifestyle products such as food supplements and ingredients businesses.

as of 2022 and retains the right to nominate a number of non-executive directors to the board of the company in line with their mutual Relationship Agreement.

[3] Dairy products have long formed the backbone of Ireland's agricultural sector, and by the early 19th century the country was amongst the world's largest producers.

[4] Irish butter came under pressure by competitors modernising their systems with newly developed cream separators.

In order to support the cost of new equipment, dairy farmers grouped together to build centralised processing facilities – known as 'creameries'.

[5] The numbers of creameries increased substantially by 1900, and by the eve of World War I, the country counted nearly 800 plants.

In spite of the scarcities, political unrest and violent incidents, the World War I era had been a prosperous period for farmers.

The crisis in the country's agricultural market following the war led to a large number of creameries to shut down.

With its head start, Waterford was able to grow and a decade later, in 1974, this scale of operation would help in winning the French Yoplait franchise to produce the prestige range of yogurts at Inch, County Wexford – an association that continues to this day.

became one of 20 members of Avonmore Farmers Ltd.; the other founding members being Castlehale, Mullinavat, Iverk, Piltown, Carrigeen, Kilmacow, Ballyragget, South Tipperary, Monastarevan, Muckalee, Barrowvale, Kells, Windgap, Brandonvale, Bennetsbridge, Castlecomer, Freshford, Donaghmore and Fennor.

Today, the Ballyragget facility is the largest integrated dairy site in Europe, processing about 20% of the Irish milk pool.

In 1989, a year after the establishment of Waterford Foods plc, the Group bought Galloway West in the US heartland dairying state of Wisconsin.

Later in the year, Waterford bought A.Heald Limited of Manchester, a company that operated in the liquid milk and fruit juice business.

Some shareholders had strong reservations and among their concerns were issues such as perceived loss of identity, dominance by one party over another, relative valuations of the two organisations, size and scale of the new entity, representation and weakening of farmer control.

The US development strategy focused on the Avonmore West operation in Idaho which benefited from scale, location, and a growing milk supply.

Following the US$20 million investment programme, Avonmore West became a global supplier of advanced dairy food and nutritional ingredients.

Within the consumer food business, liquid milk operations were to be located at Ballytore, Waterford, and Drogheda.

In the UK, the Group closed its Appleby cheese facility and also disposed of the Manchester-based juice business during 1997.

In 2003, the company announced its intention to exit the fresh meat market which was subsequently sold in a management buy-out in 2008.

After establishing a nutritionals business in January 2003, Glanbia acquired the German-based Kortus Food Ingredients Services (KFIS) in 2004.

The purchase increased Glanbia's product range and brought further access to markets in Germany and Central Europe.

[10] On 6 September 2006, Glanbia announced the acquisition of the California-based micronutrient premix business, Seltzer Companies Inc.

As part of its international expansion, Glanbia acquired the Canadian nutritionals business Pizzey's Milling in August 2007.

Glanbia again expanded its presence in the North American market in 2008 through its acquisition of the Illinois-based sports supplement firm Optimum Nutrition.

The deal was aimed at freeing up Glanbia plc to pursue its global cheese and nutritional ambitions, but it failed to achieve the necessary three-quarters approval from the co-op's members on 10 May, falling just short at 73%.

[17] 2017 – Glanbia invests in two new acquisitions: US-based Amazing Grass and Dutch company Body & Fit.

Body & Fit is a direct-to-consumer distribution company focused on own-label and branded sports nutrition in the Benelux region.

[18] October 2018 – Glanbia acquires the weight-management brand SlimFast and adds the ingredient manufacturer Watson to their portfolio.

[19] [20] 2020: Glanbia completed the construction of a world-class mozzarella plant in Ireland in partnership with Leprino Foods and a $470m state-of-the-art cheese and whey protein manufacturing facility in Michigan.

[21] [22] 2021 – Glanbia acquires PacMoore, enhancing their healthy snack capability, and expands into e-sports by adding LevlUp to their brand portfolio.