Arla Foods Ingredients (AFI), a subsidiary of Swedo-Danish cooperative Arla Foods, is set to establish a lactose manufacturing facility in Denmark with an investment of EUR120m.
The plant will be located next to Denmark Protein in Nr. Vium. The construction of the facility is expected to be completed by October 2014 and the plant is scheduled to go onstream in 2016. It will have annual production capacity of 85,000 metric tons.
The added capacity combined with the existing joint venture plants in Germany will increase AFI's lactose volumes to approximately 135,000 metric tons per year.
Arla Foods Ingredients chief executive officer Henrik Andersen said that the investment reflects the company's commitment to provide high quality products to the global nutrition and food industry.
"We have had a very constructive dialogue with a number of leading customers regarding their future demands for lactose quality," Andersen added.
Lactose, also called as milk sugar is a natural component from milk, is extracted from whey by evaporation and crystallization. The ingredient is used in foods such as infant formulas, chocolate, confectionery and bakery products.
Arla Foods Ingredients, headquartered in Denmark, develops and manufacturers milk-based ingredients, primarily functional and nutritional milk proteins, bioactive phospholipids, minerals, permeate and lactose, for the food industry.
The company operates one wholly owned production facility in Denmark, with joint venture facilities in Argentina and Germany.
