Former Dawn Meats chief Dan Browne passes away

Former Dawn Meats co-founder Dan Browne has passed away. The death of the agricultural industry leader who was originally from Douglas in Co. Cork was confirmed to Agriland today (Tuesday, June 24).

The late Dan Browne started his career as a research scientist with An Foras Talúntais (AFT) which is now known as Teagasc.

One of his early career highlights was developing a national dairy research centre on a then derelict farm at Moorepark, near Fermoy in Co. Cork.

After approximately 15 years involved in both dairy and beef-industry research, he joined the meat industry as manager of the Cork Marts - Irish Meat Packers (IMP) plant in Middleton, Co. Cork.

Six years later, in 1980, Browne - in conjunction with the Queally family in Waterford - set up Dawn Meats and was managing director of the company until 2007.

As well as having a long-standing career in the meat industry, the late Dan Browne also served terms as as chairman of the board at Teagasc and Bord Bia.

Dawn Meats is a key supplier to a range of supermarket, foodservice and manufacturing businesses, exporting to more than 50 countries.

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As a family-owned business, Dawn Meats "remains true to its farming heritage" through the relationships it has with over 40,000 family farms from which it directly sources grass-fed cattle and lamb for processing at its 11 Irish and 13 UK sites. 

Dawn Meats was established in Co Waterford, Ireland in 1980, and has grown to a business with over €3 billion in annual revenue, employing over 8,000 staff in 12 countries.

The company works with some of the world’s leading food companies. Trading as Dunbia in the UK and Dawn Meats in Ireland, the combined businesses process approximately 1 million cattle and 3.5 million sheep annually. 

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