Carton Brothers – an Irish Family Tradition since 1775. Carton Brothers is the name of the company that produces Manor Farm chicken. It is one of the oldest family companies in Ireland and dates back to 1775. Manor Farm is the largest chicken processor in the Republic of Ireland currently producing approximately 900,000 birds on a weekly basis. The company, trading under its own flagship “Manor Farm” brand, distributes to all major retail outlets in the Republic of Ireland and many of the catering institutions. The company also produces “Own Label” product to all the major retailers in Ireland. The company is highly active in the export market where its products may be seen in the U.K., France, Spain, Eastern Europe, South Africa and the Far East. The company is vertically integrated in that it has its own hatchery, feed mill and processing plant. The farms where the birds are reared are under contract to the company and must follow all guidelines and procedures as laid down by the company. This allows complete traceability for the products. Processing moved to Shercock in Co. Cavan in 1970 becoming the first plant in Britain and Ireland to be EEC approved. The company whilst already at the forefront of the industry in terms of size has spent over Ä14m in 2005 increasing the size and capacity of its processing plant at Shercock. Further investment is currently underway with an additional Ä25million planned over the next 5 years. Consistent within Manor Farm at all times is dedication to Quality and the production of unique and very tasty chicken products from the best chicken that we ourselves produce. Manor Farm believes innovation is critical to their success and support new product development to ensure that we are at the forefront of new & emerging technologies. Manor Farm was first to market in Ireland with cook in the bag packaging technology & continues to invest resources in new packaging developments.

Carton Bros (Manor) will support WP1 with information on plastic used in food packaging, and in WP5 where they will validate the performance of the new material in an industrial, commercial environment from both migration & shelf life perspectives in comparison to existing PET & PE materials. We distribute through all fresh food channels throughout the island of Ireland & are therefore in a unique position to test new materials. The project also offers interesting new complementary opportunities for our farmers chicken suppliers.