Ornua, Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, opened a new €30m mozzarella cheese factory in Ávila, Spain on Tuesday. The factory, which is the result of a €30m investment, has been built on a former Ornua cheese manufacturing site, which was destroyed by fire in 2017.

The factory will employ 120 people and has an initial capacity to manufacture 35,000t of mozzarella and other pizza cheeses. Ornua has plans to increase capacity to 70,000t in the future.

This facility secures Ornua as a leading global pizza cheese supplier. It will see Ornua supplying cheese for over 100m pizzas each year.

Ornua purchased the business from Telepizza one of Europe’s largest pizza producers.

Growth strategy

Speaking at the opening, John Jordan, Ornua CEO said the opening aligns with Ornua’s growth strategy of investing in world-class strategic production facilities to secure long-term returns for Irish dairy farmers.

Jordan added that this investment will play a key role in enhancing Ornua’s cheese ingredients capacity and capabilities. According to Jordan, it will reinforce the company's position as a leading, large-scale supplier of high-quality dairy ingredients to many leading Spanish, European and global food manufacturing and food service customers.

Jordan says this facility will benefit Irish farmers. by both providing an outlet for cheese products from Ireland, while also diversifying Ornua's geography and dependence on cheddar production. Technology in the plant has the capability to manufacture a wide selection of mozzarella and mozzarella-based cheese blends.

Ornua Ingredients Europe incorporates the Ávila site and Ornua’s UK ingredients businesses. It consists of four processing facilities and 600 employees, with an annual turnover in excess of €300m.

.