Tipperary Fresh milk will expand on to Tesco fridges in the coming weeks. Centenary Thurles senior executive John Martin made the announcement at Tillage Day 2026.
Tipperary Fresh milk is produced from cows grazing grass and using feed produced from non-genetically modified organism (GMO) ingredients.
“We partner with Dunnes Stores on this and it’s being launched over the next number of weeks now in Tesco nationally,” John announced.
At present, the product sells for €1.74/l in the shop. Own-brand milk is €1.15/l. This means there is a price premium of 59c/l in the shops. The milk suppliers are paid a premium.
Centenary Thurles paid the highest price for grain this year at €225/t for feed barley and €237/t for feed wheat, along with a transport bonus.
John explained that 14 farmers within 12km of Thurles town supply the milk for the product. He noted that the liquid milk business in Ireland is difficult and that a group of farmers wanted to continue to produce liquid milk.
Centenary Thurles has a milk plant and a feed mill, so a closed loop was possible.
“It is produced from as much local ingredients as possible, as much local protein as possible, with no genetically modified raw material going into the food chain for that,” John said.
Market is there
Market research was important and showed that sustainability is important to consumers.
“We found from the market research there were people that understood the concept that no farmer that supplies us with milk uses soya and that resonates with customers,” John explained, adding that the supermarket buyers are aware of this.
GMO-free
The GMO-free label does not come easily. Samples and tests are taken and sent for analysis to check for GMOs. The farms and the feed mill are audited as well.
“It’s certified by a UK firm called Food Chain ID as non-GMO, so the whole chain is based around a group of farmers, 14 farmers who show their books to us. We mill once a week for that group of farmers,” John said.
Tillage Day 2026 is an event organised by the Irish Farmers Journal and supported by the Irish Seed Trade Association.
