Leprino Foods Laois Factory Closure: 130 Jobs Lost

When a company pours €130 million into a brand-new cheese factory, you’d expect it to stay open longer than a few years. But that’s exactly what’s happening in Portlaoise, County Laois, where Leprino Foods has announced it will shut its mozzarella and string-cheese plant in the second half of 2026, putting more than 130 jobs at risk.

Company founded: 1950 ·
Portlaoise plant investment: €130 million ·
Jobs affected: 130+ ·
Closure announcement date: 19 August 2025 ·
Expected closure period: Second half of 2026 ·
Plant operational duration: Approximately 5 years

Who is the owner of Leprino Foods?

James Leprino and family ownership

• Leprino Foods is owned by the Leprino family. The company was founded in 1950 by James Leprino in Denver, Colorado, and remains family-controlled today (RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)).

Leprino Foods corporate structure

• Headquartered in Denver, Leprino Foods is a privately held company with no public shareholders. It operates manufacturing plants across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

What brands does Leprino Foods make?

Mozzarella cheese production

• The Portlaoise facility produced mozzarella and string cheese (RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)). Leprino is widely recognised as the world’s largest mozzarella producer, supplying cheese to major pizza chains globally.

Leprino Foods product range

• Beyond mozzarella, Leprino produces provolone, string cheese, and dairy protein ingredients for the food service and industrial sectors. Its products are primarily sold under private labels and to food manufacturers.

Private label and food service

• Leprino does not market consumer-facing brands directly in Ireland. Instead, its cheese is used as an ingredient by pizza chains and prepared-food companies. The Portlaoise plant supplied both the Irish and European markets.

Is there a cheese factory in Portlaoise?

Leprino Foods Portlaoise plant closure

• Leprino Foods operated a cheese manufacturing plant in Portlaoise, County Laois, located at the National Enterprise Park on the Junction 17, Togher area (Laois Nationalist (local weekly)). The plant was described as a state-of-the-art facility when it opened around 2021.

Timeline of the closure announcement

• The closure was announced on 19 August 2025, with operations expected to cease in the second half of 2026 (RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)).
• The Irish Times quoted Leprino’s statement calling it a “difficult but necessary” decision (The Irish Times (national daily)).

Impact on local employment and economy

• At the time of the announcement, 132 people worked at the facility (RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)). Local reporting described the plant as having been open only four years (Laois Nationalist (local weekly)).
• The plant was not profitable, according to Leprino (RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)). Production is to be transferred to Leprino’s other European sites in Magheralin, Northern Ireland, and Llangefni, Wales (RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)).
• Employees were told they could apply for relocation to other Leprino sites, which would affect the final number of redundancies (RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)).

The pattern is stark: a €130m factory, opened with fanfare less than five years ago, is set to close because it never turned a profit—and the company is moving production to sites inside the UK, where post-Brexit trade is more predictable.

Timeline of the Leprino Foods Portlaoise plant

• 1950: Leprino Foods founded in Denver, Colorado.
• Approximately 2021: Portlaoise mozzarella plant opens (Laois Nationalist (local weekly)).
• 19 August 2025: Closure announcement made (RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)).
• August 2025: IDA publicly criticised for lack of intervention (Laois Nationalist (local weekly)).
• Second half of 2026: Portlaoise plant scheduled to cease operations.

What’s confirmed and what’s unclear

Confirmed facts

• Closure announcement on 19 August 2025
• Job loss figure of 130+
• Investment amount of €130m
• IDA criticism in local media

What’s unclear

• Exact reasons for closure (company only cited restructuring; Brexit and costs are analyst interpretations)
• Whether the plant will be sold or repurposed
• Long-term impact on Glanbia’s operations in Portlaoise

Quotes from key sources

“This has been a difficult but necessary decision to cease manufacturing at Portlaoise in the second half of 2026.”

— Leprino Foods company statement, as reported by The Irish Times (national daily)

“The IDA has been absolutely useless. They bring in these multinationals, take the credit for the jobs, and then when the company pulls out, there’s no support for the workers.”

— Local politician quoted by Laois Nationalist (local weekly)

“IDA Ireland is engaging with the company and with other state agencies to support the affected workers and explore options for the site.”

— IDA Ireland spokesperson, as reported by RTÉ News (Irish public broadcaster)

The common thread across all voices: a brand-new factory, built with public incentives and private capital, is closing before it reached its fifth birthday—and the agencies that helped bring it to Ireland now face a credibility test.

Summary

The closure leaves more than 130 workers at Leprino Foods in Portlaoise facing uncertain job prospects in a region already feeling the squeeze of industrial consolidation. For the IDA and Irish policymakers, the lesson is clear: attracting foreign investment with generous grants is no longer enough if the post-Brexit trading environment can make those investments unprofitable within half a decade.

Related reading: Leprino Foods company to close Portlaoise cheese plant · SIPTU to meet management over shock Laois factory closure

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