IRELAND: +353 (0)21 4378 988  |  FROM THE UK: 0870 850 4831

Established in 1967 as a supplier of farm detergent products to Irish dairy farmers, Carbon Group has evolved to become a dynamic business with a global outlook. Today, we supply essential products, materials and ingredients to the pharma, bio-pharma, medical device, cosmetic, agri-food, beverage and other industries, serving local SMEs and Multinationals.

Brian Walsh, MD, Carbon Group

Our story

Over the Years

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1967

Carbon founded in Ovens, Co. Cork.

Founded by Denis McHugh, the company’s initial focus was to produce a range of detergents and sanitisers for use on Irish dairy farms. This sector still continues to be an important market focus for us today.
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1970s

Began manufacturing and supplying farm detergents and industrial chemicals

Carbon followed the milk from the farm to the milk processing plants, being developed by the co-operative movements of that time, supplying a broad range of chemicals to this sector.
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1980s

Introduced a food ingredients division

Building on our successes with chemicals in the food processing sector, the natural next step was the addition of a Food Ingredients Division, initially focussed on products added to milk in the production of yogurt, butter, cheese and milk powders.
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1995

Moved to a 10 acre facility in Ringaskiddy

Outgrowing our existing facilities, and as a mark of intent, a big step was taken to relocate the business to a new site in Ringaskiddy. Home to a number of the largest Pharmaceutical Manufacturing companies in the world, Carbon took it’s first step to enter this market by locating ourselves in amongst these businesses.
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1998

Set up Pharmaceutical Chemicals Division and gained ISO certification

Having examined options, in 1998 Carbon brought external Pharma market expertise into the company and established a Pharma Chemicals Division to target this market.  The first step was to review our Quality Management Systems, achieve ISO9000 Certification and launch a new range of specialist products for this sector.
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1999

Aquired Auxiliary Chemicals and introduced a Paint Division

Our first acquisition was Auxiliary Chemicals. This business, located in Cork, allowed us tointegrate this business into our new site, achieving efficiencies for both businesses and allowing Carbon to enter a new market sector in Paints. This was shortly followed by the acquisition of P&E Ltd, a Belfast based paint business.
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2001

Acquisition of Preference Chemicals in Cork

Similar to our first acquisition this business was integrated into our site in Ringaskiddy. And to further support this acquisition and our chemicals business we commissioned a Sulphuric Acid  and a Hydrogen Peroxide dilution facilities.
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2005

Entered the Irish Salt Market

At the request of customers, looking for alternative suppliers, and having the advantage of our storage capacity in Ringaskiddy and our Food Quality Management Systems, we entered the salt market. Today we offer a range of salts to the pharma, food, water, industrial and gritting sectors.
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2005

Entered the UK Food Ingredients Market

UK market entry. The Company expanded into the UK in 2005 through the acquisition of a dairy food ingredients business.
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2006

New solvent drumming facility

To support our customer base, and grow our market share, we commissioned a solvent storage and drumming facility. We can now receive bulk tankers of solvent, with dedicated product lines and tankage, and storing them under nitrogen to maintain the highest product integrity. We then pack down into 1000 IBC’s and smaller drums as our customers require.
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2008

Acquisition of MB Distribution in Dublin.

Acquisition of MB Distribution. This was a bolt on acquisition for our Paint Division, expanding our product range to offer Protective Coatings but also giving us a location in the Dublin region.
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2012

Invested in a new foodgrade blending facility

Never forgetting our roots and still developing our Chemical and Food Ingredient businesses, we invested in a new purpose built food grade blending facility, allowing us to scale up production and also have the capacity to fill road and ISO tankers with finished product.
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2013

Introduced Microsoft Nav ERP System

The company rationalised its business management systems through a migration to Office 365 and Microsoft Nav which allowed the company to meet its customers and regulatory needs through paperless E systems .
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2014

Consolidation of the Paint Division.

Having been operating our Paint Division from 3 separate locations in Belfast, Cork and Dublin, the decision was taken to invest in a new expanded site in Dublin and consolidate all our paint operations into one location, while also opening a new trade counter sales outlet in the same premises and bringing all our paint expertise under one roof.
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2016

Seveso site designation.

With our chemicals business expanding in Cork, and to support future growth, we nominated to become a Seveso registered site. A lot of time, resources and investment has been made in our facilities, health and safety, environment, compliance and major accident response systems and procedures to set us on the right track for further expansion.
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2018-2020

Significant and continued investment in Quality, Environmental and Health and Safety infrastructure and teams.

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2020

Upgrade of Microsoft Nav 365 System to Microsoft 365 Business Central System

The company chose to upgrade its business management system from the on premise Microsoft Nav 365 system to Microsoft 365 Business Central system hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud, this upgrade allows the company to take advantage of the highest security levels offered by the Microsoft Azure cloud.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - thumbnail image for home page
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2025

Shrieve Chemical Acquires Carbon Group

The acquisition of Carbon Group by Shrieve Chemical Company, a portfolio company of Gemspring Capital and a value-added chemicals distributor, was announced on 23rd June, 2025.

Brian Walsh, MD, Carbon Group: “Partnering with Shrieve marks an important step in continuing our legacy of delivering intelligent solutions to our customers and suppliers. We look forward to continuing to provide the same world-class service and reliability as part of the Shrieve organisation.”

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - thumbnail image for home page
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