The Irish Dairy Board (IDB) has announced the completion of an $80m investment in its food ingredients business in Wisconsin, USA.

The final stage of the investment was announced this morning with the opening of a $12m cheese manufacturing facility. The plant is part of the IDB’s Thiel Cheese and Ingredients division.

The IDB forecasts that this latest investment will increase the production capacity of its US food ingredients business by 40%. The business is now supplying functional cheese ingredients to over 100 US multinational food ingredient companies and has an annual turnover of $130 million.

Commening on the investment, IDB chief executive Kevin Lane said: "The focus of this investment is on innovation as much as production with our new facility enhancing our ability to create innovative food solutions that meet the evolving needs of our US customer base and their brands."

See this week’s Irish Farmers Journal for full analysis on the IDB announcement. Irish Farmers Journal editor Justin McCarthy is in Wisconsin this week at the opening of the new facility.