Emma Walls, commercial director of Offaly-based yogurt producer Glenisk, has been confirmed as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the National Dairy Council (NDC). She replaces Zoe Kavanagh who was 13 years in the job and is now CEO at Repak. Walls began her career in PR at Ogilvy’s Wilson Hartnell (WH) agency. She later ran her own communications consultancy, specialising in food and drink, before joining Glenisk in 2008.
With over 16 years of experience at Glenisk, she held various roles in marketing, communications, sales, innovation. She was appointed to its board of directors in 2015. Leading the NDC means she will advocate for the 17,000 Irish dairy farming families supplying premium products both at home and abroad. Eamon Carroll, chair of the board of the NDC, said that she will be an outstanding ambassador and advocate for the dairy sector.
Walls was appointed to the National Organic Strategy Forum in 2022 by the then Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pippa Hackett TD. She is a director of Love Irish Food and is a member of Bord Bia’s Brand Forum steering committee. She was a Marketer of the Year finalist in 2013 and is a qualified barrister.
