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Glanbia Ireland and a Dutch Company, Royal A-Ware, plan to build a new continental cheese facility in Belview, Co Kilkenny, with €140m to be invested.
The new facility is scheduled to be commissioned in 2022 and will have a production capacity of 450m litres of milk annually. There will be 80 full-time jobs created in the new facility, along with 100 jobs in the construction phase.
The proposed new facility will be located at a greenfield site near to Glanbia Ireland’s infant nutrition plant.
Milk from Irish dairy farms will be processed into various forms of continental cheeses at the plant.
Diversification
Jim Bergin, chief executive of Glanbia Ireland commented: “This new partnership will create a new route to market for Glanbia Ireland's suppliers’ milk and diversify our portfolio of consumer dairy products and ingredients.
“Since 2014 we have invested €343m to facilitate a 42% increase in milk production by Glanbia farmers. This proposed new investment is now required to diversify our product mix and to ensure that our suppliers have the opportunity to fulfil their growth ambitions.”
The announcement was welcomed by both the Minister for Business Heather Humphreys and the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed.
Regional development
Minister Humphreys said the creation of jobs is a key focus for the government especially with the looming threat of Brexit. She added that the creation of jobs through product diversification would create quality and sustainable jobs for the area.
Minister Creed also mentioned Brexit, saying the creation of facilities such as the one envisaged for Belview were a critical response in terms of developing new products and new markets.
Royal A-Ware CEO Jan Anker said the investment would give their company access to “additional volumes of high-quality cheese through a local supply chain”.
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