Any Multi-National Irish companies/brands?

MrYlad

I am new to boards, so please correct me if this is in the wrong forum/section.

With the recent news of the selling of Aer Lingus (national flag carrier airline of Ireland) to IAG (British-Spanish multinational airline holding company); it set me thinking about truly Irish multinational companies (or simply irish companies that are widely recognisable in foreign markets). What initially comes to mind is the alcohol brands such as Guinness, Smithwick's, Baileys, Jameson etc, but I found that these are owned.manufactured by foreign companies (Diageo, Pernod Ricard etc), or even brands such as Aer Lingus (now not so Irish).
So my question really is; is there many truly Irish big, multinatinal brands that are recognisable by foreign consumers?
Does Ireland have any equivelants to Finland's Nokia, Germany's Volkswagon, Switzerland's Nestlé or Japan's Sony? (obviously not to their scale though).

Saipanne

Kerry Group?

Ryanair

MrYlad

Yes, that is a multinational Irish company. But I don't feel customers in foreign markets would recognise that brand (maybe they would, correct me if I'm wrong). I do agree though, that they are probably one of our largest Irish companies (ranked 14 on the Irish Times Top 1000 Irish Companies - which also includes not so Irish companies such as Google and Microsoft; so it certainly is a big, Irish multinational)

galljga1

Fyffes?

mahoganygas

CRH - building materials.

Fyffes - largest banana company in the world.

Smurfit Kappa - massive paper company.

Ireland is also a massive hub for aircraft leasing companies.

titan18

Kerry Group, Ryanair, Glanbia, Greencore, CRH are probably the biggest.

wotwotwotwot

U2

MrYlad

Yes, the Kerry Group is a multinational Irish company. But I don't feel customers in foreign markets would recognise that brand (maybe they would, correct me if I'm wrong). I do agree though, that they are probably one of our largest Irish companies (ranked 14 on the Irish Times Top 1000 Irish Companies - which also includes not so Irish companies such as Google and Microsoft; so it certainly is a big, Irish multinational).

Ryanair definetly fits the list, very recognisable company abroad and at home. And is ranked 15 on the Top 1000, BUT IAG is its parent company (like Aer Lingus soon). So technically are they even Irish owned? (I could be wrong)

mahoganygas

MrYlad wrote: »

Yes, that is a multinational Irish company. But I don't feel customers in foreign markets would recognise that brand (maybe they would, correct me if I'm wrong). I do agree though, that they are probably one of our largest Irish companies (ranked 14 on the Irish Times Top 1000 Irish Companies - which also includes not so Irish companies such as Google and Microsoft; so it certainly is a big, Irish multinational)

So is the question - are there any large brands or large multi-nationals?

One could ague that while Aer Lingus the company will soon be foreign owned, that the Aer Lingus brand will live on and will still be very much associated with Ireland.

Ireland has a lot of very large multi-nationals which operate in markets where brands aren't very important. Germany has BMW. A consumer product which most people would associated as being a German brand.

However the Irish economy has a lot of financial services and pharmaceutical companies which don't rely on the guy in the street knowing what their brand is.

I suppose that Ireland exports more services (brand not important) as opposed to products (brand hugely important).

MrYlad

I guess Fyffes are a recognisabe brand abroad, but the others wouldn't necessarily be famous brands, would they?
Like I don't think you would see a TV advert for CRH. Or would see Greencore sponsoring a football jersey.
Aer Lingus, to me, used to fit that criteria; but now they have been bought by a British/Spanish company.

MrYlad

mahoganygas wrote: »

So is the question - are there any large brands or large multi-nationals?

One could ague that while Aer Lingus the company will soon be foreign owned, that the Aer Lingus brand will live on and will still be very much associated with Ireland.

Ireland has a lot of very large multi-nationals which operate in markets where brands aren't very important. Germany has BMW. A consumer product which most people would associated as being a German brand.

However the Irish economy has a lot of financial services and pharmaceutical companies which don't rely on the guy in the street knowing what their brand is.

I suppose that Ireland exports more services (brand not important) as opposed to products (brand hugely important).

My question is: are there any large Irish owned Multinationals that also posess a well known brand? hope that makes sense.

mahoganygas

MrYlad wrote: »

I guess Fyffes are a recognisabe brand abroad, but the others wouldn't necessarily be famous brands, would they?
Like I don't think you would see a TV advert for CRH. Or would see Greencore sponsoring a football jersey.
Aer Lingus, to me, used to fit that criteria; but now they have been bought by a British/Spanish company.

Agreed. As a consumer of bananas and flights I would expect to see advertisements aimed at me on television, radio etc.

But I don't buy cement so I wouldn't expect to see an advert for that.

I can't really think of any Irish owned multi-nationals which sell consumer goods. It's a good question. Maybe in the past, I don't know?

I could be mistaken but I don't think Ireland was ever a consumer goods exporter historically. We have always been influenced by British and American consumer trends so it's not surprising that we import from them in such huge quantities.

I wonder why Irish brands haven't really taken off in other markets. Alcohol certainly has. Also food to an extent.
Globalisation may explain why most of our alcohol brands are foreign owned.

Great question OP!

coolbeans

MrYlad wrote: »

Ryanair definetly fits the list, very recognisable company abroad and at home. And is ranked 15 on the Top 1000, BUT IAG is its parent company (like Aer Lingus soon). So technically are they even Irish owned? (I could be wrong)

You are wrong. IAG is not Ryanair's parent company. Ryanair controls itself through Ryanair holdings.

MrYlad

mahoganygas wrote: »

Agreed. As a consumer of bananas and flights I would expect to see advertisements aimed at me on television, radio etc.

But I don't buy cement so I wouldn't expect to see an advert for that.

I can't really think of any Irish owned multi-nationals which sell consumer goods. It's a good question. Maybe in the past, I don't know?

I could be mistaken but I don't think Ireland was ever a consumer goods exporter historically. We have always been influenced by British and American consumer trends so it's not surprising that we import from them in such huge quantities.

I wonder why Irish brands haven't really taken off in other markets. Alcohol certainly has. Also food to an extent.
Globalisation may explain why most of our alcohol brands are foreign owned.

Great question OP!

Thanks. You've hit the nail on the head with what I'm looking for.
I think Kerrygold butter would be an example? but its not as widespread really

alias no.9

mahoganygas wrote: »

Agreed. As a consumer of bananas and flights I would expect to see advertisements aimed at me on television, radio etc.

But I don't buy cement so I wouldn't expect to see an advert for that.

I can't really think of any Irish owned multi-nationals which sell consumer goods. It's a good question. Maybe in the past, I don't know?

I could be mistaken but I don't think Ireland was ever a consumer goods exporter historically. We have always been influenced by British and American consumer trends so it's not surprising that we import from them in such huge quantities.

I wonder why Irish brands haven't really taken off in other markets. Alcohol certainly has. Also food to an extent.
Globalisation may explain why most of our alcohol brands are foreign owned.

Great question OP!

Glen Dimplex is probably the biggest Irish consumer electronics company

Kingspan is pretty big across Europe in insulation and construction materials

MrYlad

Glen Dimplex and Fyffes are the best so far in my opinion

CassieManson

MrYlad wrote:

Thanks. You've hit the nail on the head with what I'm looking for. I think Kerrygold butter would be an example? but its not as WIDESPREAD really

Pun intended?

MrYlad

CassieManson wrote: »

Pun intended?

Would believe me if I said yes?

Geuze

MrYlad wrote: »

.

Ryanair definetly fits the list, very recognisable company abroad and at home. And is ranked 15 on the Top 1000, BUT IAG is its parent company (like Aer Lingus soon). So technically are they even Irish owned? (I could be wrong)

Ryanair is not owned by IAG.

Ryanair carries more pax than IAG.

MrYlad

Geuze wrote: »

Ryanair is not owned by IAG.

Ryanair carries more pax than IAG.

What's pax?

Geuze

Passengers...............

Hasschu

From what I have seen Kerry Group is truly an Irish multinational. They have production facilities in Europe and North America. Their products can be found all around the world. The big grocery chains in continental Europe and North America all carry KG butter and cheese. Their other field is foodstuffs such as dried vegetables which they sell to the big food processors such as canned and dried soup makers and pizza processors such as Oetker. They are truly an Irish success story.
Ryanair is also an Irish success story but they confine their business largely to the EU.