Ireland-based nutrition company Glanbia and its joint venture partners in Southwest Cheese are planning a $140m expansion of cheese production plant in Clovis, New Mexico.
The expansion is intended to increase milk processing capacity by 30% and is expected to be completed in two years.
The expansion will create 50 new jobs. The joint venture of Glanbia and the dairy cooperatives of the Greater Southwest Agency, which include Dairy Farmers of America and Select Milk Producers, process over 220 truckloads of milk per day. The JV is considered to be one of the largest cheese and whey protein manufacturing units in the world.
Glanbia Global Ingredients CEO Brian Phelan said: "I am delighted to announce, together with our joint venture dairy cooperative partners, that we are at an advanced stage in our discussions for the expansion of Southwest Cheese. Since the commissioning of the plant in 2005 the partnership has been extremely successful.
"With this expansion we are making a significant commitment to our employees, our producers, our customers, our local community and the economy of New Mexico as we seek to capture further domestic and international cheese and whey market share."
"The construction of Southwest Cheese started in 2004 on a greenfield site in Clovis. During our 10 years in the community we have expanded production and grown our footprint. We are thankful to the local and state government and agency support."
The JV plant will meet domestic and international demand for cheese and whey. The additional 50 jobs will take the number of employees of Southwest Cheese to more than 400 in Clovis.
Southwest Cheese is 50% owned by Glanbia with the remaining half owned by DFA and Select Milk Producers. The construction on the cheese plant began on a green field site five miles south of Clovis in Eastern New Mexico in February 2004 and was commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Currently, Southwest Cheese manufactures 40lb and 640lb block cheese such as Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Pepper Kack, Colby Jack, and Gouda and whey protein powders.
Earlier this year, Glanbia opened a €235m hi-spec infant formula standard facility in Belview. The facility was set up to manufacture specialized milk powder products and nutritional ingredients to meet the demands of multi-nationals in infant formula and other industries operating in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Central America. The infant formula standard facility is expected to contribute around €400m to the economy every year.
Image: The plant supplies cheese to some of the world's leading food companies. Photo: Courtesy of zole4/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
