On Monday, Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GII) announced that it has completed a €7.8m upgrade of its plant in Virginia, Co Cavan.

The upgrade will see its protein powder production more than double from 4,000t annually to 10,000t and GII CEO Jim Bergin hailed the day as a very important one for the company.

“The opening of our new plant ensures that both GII and our farmer suppliers will be able to capitalise on the generational opportunity that is provided by the ending of milk quotas next year.

“We are proud to have been operating in Virginia since 1974 and look forward to continuing to invest in the business with this latest investment confirming our commitment to the plant and the local area,” Bergin said.

The investment is an upgrade of its milk protein concentrate facilities.

This is the latest announcement by Glanbia in a €200m investment in added-value improvement at its plants. The plan is being supported by Enterprise Ireland. Bergin said the added-value sector is crucial to the development of the company and to farmers.

“We can pay a higher price if we add value (to the milk),” Bergin said.

As well as supplying the cream to Diageo for 80m bottles of Baileys each year, the plant in Virginia also processes protein powders under its affordable nutrition banner. Many of these products are destined for the west African market.

It was not all positivity from Bergin, who admitted that next year is likely to be difficult for both farmer and processor.

“There’s no doubt about it, 2015 is going to be challenging for everyone in the sector,” Bergin said in light of suppressed demand from international customers as well as increased global production.

“However, the long-range forecast for the market is good,” Bergin added.