Stock Take

Lorcan Allen: Kerry Group must navigate its way out of the doldrums

After two London-based hedge funds took short-positions against the company over the last year, how can the taste and nutrition giant rekindle its drive from previous years?

Edmond Scanlon, chief executive of the Kerry Group. Since he took over six years ago, the company has shelled out a whopping €3.4 billion on more than 40 acquisitions. Picture: Bryan Meade

In 2001, James J Kennelly, the Irish-American professor of business and management, published his book The Kerry Way, which outlined the extraordinary story of Kerry Group’s evolution from a small dairy co-op in rural Ireland into a global multinational worth billions.

Having started out from a caravan in a muddy field in Listowel in the 1970s, Kerry Group was built by a handful of plucky executives into one of Ireland’s most successful multinationals. Today, ...