Lakeland Dairies, the Irish dairy company, has announced that it will make a major investment of €36 million in its milk-powder processing plant.
The company is planning to expand the plant, based in Bailieboro, Co. Cavan, and to create 81 jobs over the next five years. Construction work will start immediately, creating jobs for 180 construction staff.
At the moment, Lakeland processes over 800 million litres of milk every year and exports to over 70 countries. This expansion will allow the company to increase production by 40 per cent, to 1 billion litres by 2020.
The company currently produces 80,000 tonnes of milk powder a year, which will rise to 130,000 tonnes when the project is completed in 2016.
Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton welcomed the announcement, saying, "The removal of milk quotas later this year offers huge opportunities that we intend to exploit in a planned and strategic way in order to support jobs growth across every region in Ireland."
Lakeland Dairies has had a strong start to the year. This latest announcement follows the company's January purchase of UK frozen-yoghurt-maker Taste Trends.
© 2014 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article written by Nicole Gernon.
