Hugh McGuire
CEO, Glanbia
WHY THE US
From our origins in Ireland, Glanbia has grown into a global nutrition business, guided by our purpose to deliver better nutrition at scale. We are ambitious for growth and we believe in the power of nutrition to unlock potential in everyone. We are a protein powerhouse and our great nutrition brands and ingredients help consumers all over the world achieve their everyday fitness, health and nutrition goals.
Achieving our ambition requires us to invest where the world’s most significant nutrition opportunities exist – that’s why today, the US is Glanbia’s most important market. As the world’s largest economy, with more than 330 million consumers and a sophisticated nutrition ecosystem, the US offers unmatched scale, diversity and long-term growth opportunity. It’s also where many of the world’s most powerful nutrition trends are emerging and accelerating.
Demand for protein and functional nutrition in the US continues to grow strongly. Today, 80% of US consumers actively prioritise protein in their daily diets, while adoption of functional benefits – from energy and muscle repair to gut health and hydration – is expanding rapidly. The rise of GLP-1 usage is further reshaping nutrition behaviours, reinforcing the importance of high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals across multiple formats. These dynamics sit directly at the heart of our portfolio of better nutrition brands and ingredients.
Our investment in the US reflects this opportunity. More than 80% of Glanbia’s revenues are now generated in US dollar and we have over 4,000 employees based in market. We operate 21 manufacturing facilities across the country, giving us a strong coast-to-coast presence close to our customers, consumers and raw material supply. We invest $80m / €90m annually in strategic capital expenditure projects in the US, including acquisition integration, IT investment and capacity development. In November last year, we approved a strategic investment at our Southwest Cheese plant in New Mexico to increase whey protein isolate (WPI) capacity by an additional £10m by 2027. This investment aims to bring significant new whey processing capability online to meet growing demand for protein.
The US provides access to world-class talent, advanced science and digital capability, and customers who are seeking faster co-creation and differentiated solutions. Across our Health & Nutrition business in particular, our US customer collaboration centres are central to developing next-generation premix, flavour and functional nutrition solutions that can be scaled globally. We also just recently approved the investment in a new spray drying campus in Sharonville, Ohio to meet the need for more natural and organic flavours.
Looking ahead, we see the US as an important growth platform and partner for our business. By continuing to invest locally – building capacity, and deepening partnerships – we are positioning Glanbia to capture sustained growth in large, resilient nutrition categories while delivering strong returns for stakeholders over the long term.