New Facility

Glanbia PLC
8 June 2000


GLANBIA OPENS NEW CHEESE PLANT IN USA

(8 June 2000) One of the largest cheese production plants in the world was
officially opened today in Gooding, Idaho, USA by Irish food group, Glanbia
plc. The facility, recently extended at a cost of $33 million, has an annual
output of 180 million pounds (85,000 tonnes) of American cheese plus over 88
million pounds (40,000 tonnes) of specialised dairy ingredients. It ranks as
one of the top facilities of its kind both in the USA and globally - cheese
output from the single plant equates to the entire hard cheese production in
the Republic of Ireland.

The extension at Gooding increases Glanbia's total annual USA cheese
production by 30% to approx. 264 million pounds (120,000 tonnes) and
ingredients output by over 20% to approx. 119 million pounds (54,000 tonnes).
The investment was made in response to continued growth in cheese consumption
in the USA and, in particular, increasing demand for ingredient cheeses.

Following a small acquisition in Idaho in 1990, Glanbia has invested over $100
million to become the largest dairy processor in the State. It is one of the
top producers of American-style cheese in the USA, supplying major food
processors serving food service and retail markets. Glanbia has also developed
a broad range of dairy-based ingredients for the nutrition and food processing
sectors. It is America's second largest exporter of lactose to Japan and
number two in the world in production of advanced technology whey proteins for
the growing sports and medical nutrition sectors. More recently Glanbia also
entered the milk minerals sector with a pure milk calcium product, XtraCal(,
for fortified foods and dietary supplements.

Glanbia also operates two other facilities in Idaho - at Twin Falls and
Richfield. A separate office in Monroe, Wisconsin manages all ingredient sales
and marketing in the USA. The turnover of US operations now exceeds $400
million annually, 400 staff are employed, milk throughput exceeds 2.33 billion
pounds per annum (233 million gallons) while 3.3 billion pounds  (333 million
gallons) of whey are also processed annually.

Speaking at the Official Opening, Glanbia plc Chairman John Duggan, said that
the development of Gooding was a critical component of the Group's future
strategy. 'Glanbia's development is being focused on the international cheese
and nutrition sectors and our USA business is an important platform for future
growth,' he said. 'Today, Glanbia ranks among the world's leading cheese
companies with particular strengths in ingredient cheeses in the USA and EU.
We have achieved important scale of operations in Idaho, a strong technical
base and good customer relationships. The USA business is also the main driver
of our nutrition strategy, where the market for nutritional products is
robust.'

Mr Dave Thomas, President of Glanbia Foods, Inc., said that Glanbia has
already achieved sales commitments for the entire additional output from
Gooding.  'A consolidating customer base is a common feature of the food
industry globally and our ongoing goal is to be strategically relevant to our
key customers. This is being achieved through high levels of customer
responsiveness, meeting specific product requirements and market
competitiveness. Innovations in nutrition products have also strengthened our
ingredients operation, providing an important complementary business dimension
within our US portfolio. We see continued growth opportunities in both parts
of our business.'

The official opening was attended by local and state dignitaries,
representatives of the Board and management of Glanbia, customers, milk
patrons and employees.  

For further information, please contact:
Michael Patten, Director of Communications, Glanbia plc
Tel: Int'l + 353-87-2859665 (Worldphone) or Office: Int'l [phone]
Jeff Williams, Executive Vice President, Glanbia Foods Inc, USA
Tel:  [phone], Ext. 14