The Culina Group has taken another significant step into the Irish food and drink logistics market following the appointment of its subsidiary, Culina SHS (Ireland), by Müller Dairy to provide a total supply chain service for its range of yogurts and chilled pot desserts across the whole of Ireland. The contract forms a key part of Müller Dairy’s plans to grow its business in Ireland.

The contract between Müller Dairy and Culina SHS will start from 1 December, 2010 and reinforces
Culina’s growing reputation as a leading provider of total supply chain services across the Irish food
and drink market and between the UK and Ireland. Culina SHS will be responsible for the
stockholding and distribution of major brands including Müller Corner; Müllerlight; Müller Rice;
Müller Little Stars; Vitality, Amoré; and the Cadbury Twin Pot and Trifle chilled dessert range.
At the heart of Culina SHS’s logistics service for Müller is a state-of-the-art 160,000 sq ft ambient
and chilled warehouse in Rathcoole, Dublin, which features a sophisticated warehouse
management system to provide automatic stock replenishment and complete visibility of order
status throughout the supply chain.

Paul O’Donnell, operations director at Culina SHS Ireland, says: "We are delighted to have secured
a contract with Müller as they have been a major success story in the Irish market. The company’s
portfolio of dairy products has shown significant growth in both Northern Ireland and Republic of
Ireland and generate 400,000 pot sales a day.1 Already established as the No2 yogurt brand in
Northern Ireland2, Müller is poised to move into the No 2 slot in the Republic of Ireland. We are
looking forward to playing a key part in their future success."

“The contract with a big brand name, such as Müller, is also significant in that it reflects the fact that
we now provide an operational platform that offers a highly cost efficient logistics solution to every
sector of the Irish grocery market, from major retailer NDCs through to the hard-to-reach grocery
convenience sector.”

O’Donnell adds: “In recent times, the centralisation of distribution requirements by the major
retailers in Ireland has meant that it has been more challenging for food and drink manufacturers to
deliver their products to convenience stores cost efficiently. Whereas before they were distributing
direct to the main supermarkets and convenience stores across Ireland they are now only
undertaking the latter, which makes it more expensive to service. Our warehousing and shared user
distribution operation, driven by leading edge technology, ensures a cost effective solution, despite
the move to centralisation by the supermarkets, combined with the geographical challenges in
Ireland and the associated distances involved. In doing so, we can enable food and drink producers
to help the convenience sector remain competitive in today’s challenging economic climate, which
continues to put downward pressure on the premium prices charged by convenience stores.”

Gharry Eccles, Müller Dairy’s CEO, says: “We have very ambitious plans to escalate the
development of our business in Ireland in the medium and long-term."

“At this pivotal stage in our expansion plans, we felt it was appropriate to explore all avenues to
ensure our logistics operation is geared towards providing the most effective and cost-efficient
service to our widening customer base."

“Following the opening of its new ambient, chilled and temperature controlled warehouse facility near
Dublin earlier this year, Culina SHS is now in a position to offer a seamless, one-stop-shop supply
chain solution covering the whole of Ireland. With this facility in place, we believe that Culina SHS is
operationally geared to deliver our future logistics requirements.”

1 Source: Combined Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. Internal sales data.

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