Stephen Hurley has been immersed in the German language since the age of five, when he attended St Kilian’s German school in south Dublin.
He thanks his polyglot father, who finished his academic career as professor of organisational psychology at DCU, for the decision to expose his children to European languages as early as possible. It was to pay off handsomely when Stephen moved to Germany in 1996 to work for the Irish Dairy Board – now rebranded as Ornua.
Along the way, Hurley took a bachelor’s degree in science at UCD, followed by a master’s in food science. He developed a keen interest in marketing rather than science at this time, leading to his first role as a sales rep for Green Isle Foods, when it launched its Goodfellas range of pizzas in the UK market.
“It was a great experience, and exciting, as we were all new to our roles,” he says. “I had a huge territory in the English midlands. The launch was a big success and within a year we were brand leaders.”
RM Block
When a position in Europe at the Irish Dairy became available, Hurley applied. The role was for the Benelux region but during the recruitment process he was introduced to the company’s German division because of his fluency in the language and ended up being posted there.
Almost 30 years on, he’s still there and is now marketing manager for the Kerrygold brand.
“Some would say I am now fully assimilated,” he quips. “I manage the Kerrygold brand in Germany in terms of positioning, media, packaging, PR, online presence – everything around how the brand is presented to the market.”
The operation he joined in 1996 was a team of three but Ornua’s headcount in Germany is now more than 300. Germany makes a significant contribution to the company’s global turnover of about €3.5 billion a year.
Kerrygold was launched in Germany 1973 and is the brand leader in its category. Brand recognition is very high and it is held in high regard as a premium brand, says Hurley.
“If you ask people what Kerrygold is, they will say it is the good butter. It delivers on its promise in that it tastes good and is very spreadable. It’s not just a brand.”
Butter and dairy spreads remain the main drivers of volume, but cheese is now a significant part of the brand portfolio too.
The train service has developed a poor level of punctuality
Kerrygold launched at a very advantageous time when the Greens were very strong in Germany, and its brand story of cows reared outside and eating grass, with a very high level of care for the animals, resonated strongly, he says.
“About two in three people in Germany could be described as flexitarians in that they eat less animal products, but better ones. Consumers care what they eat, and they are concerned about the environment, and about how animals are kept and what animals are fed.
“The way of farming in Ireland is very different from the way it is in Germany. Issues of sustainability may have slid away from attention lately because of concerns about wars and global instability, but they remain important factors in people’s minds here.”
A keen hockey player when he was younger, Hurley joined a club as a way of meeting people when he moved to Germany, through which he met his wife, Sabine. The couple have recently become grandparents.
Home is in the city of Krefeld, in north Rhine-Westphalia, northwest of Düsseldorf, a short commute to Ornua’s German headquarters.
When he moved to Germany, Hurley was impressed with the infrastructure and apparent efficiency compared with Ireland at the time, but the years since have altered this perspective. Long years of austerity policies and underinvestment have seen infrastructure standards decline alongside a decline in education.
Ireland is now more advanced than Germany in many ways, he says.
“Germany now has a very poor telephone infrastructure. Most of the bridges crossing the Rhine here are in a state of disrepair. The train service has developed a poor level of punctuality, bureaucracy has exploded and everything is incredibly slow. Things have gone noticeably downhill.”
The construction industry is experiencing problems, with employers finding it hard to fill apprenticeship roles, and this is affecting competitiveness.
“Because they have limited numbers of skilled workers and concerns about continuity, builders, plumbers and electricians have got picky and choosy about the work they want to do and prices gone up consequently,” he says.
People won’t greet each other and will avoid eye contact
Germans are inclined to paint things black and look back to better days, but the reality is that things are not that bad. Living standards are very high for most people, and the economy is large and robust, he says. The hope is that the recently installed government will deliver on its ambitious investment promises and improve infrastructure.
Hurley says that in his home city, he lives entirely “within the German cosmos”, although he has some Irish friends in Düsseldorf. “It’s very important to speak the language if you want to really become part of German society and to be understood and understand others. I am fluent – which is a great advantage.”
Germans have become less formal in recent years, he says, but are still reserved. “People won’t greet each other and will avoid eye contact. In Ireland you can strike up a conversation with a stranger in a bar. That doesn’t happen often here.”
Contrary to what many people think, however, the Germans do have a sense of humour, he says.
“You can’t slag people off here and assume that they will find that funny, but they do have a black sense of humour. Germans famously love punctuality, but the reality is sometimes different. The trains don’t always run on time these days, so there’s many jokes made about that.”
