IDB concludes €70m capital development in Britain

The new 65,000sqft facility, including an innovation centre, was completed on time and on budget at a cost of €12.7m. It marks the successful delivery of a €70m capital development programme by the IDB in Britain over the past five years.

As Ireland’s leading trading partner, maintaining a strong presence in the British market, comprising 62 million consumers, is critical to driving exports and to meeting the growing demand from food manufacturers for high quality dairy based ingredients.

The new AFI plant is dedicated to developing customised dairy ingredient solutions, aimed at customers in Britain and export markets. It complements the IDB’s cheese pre-​packaging plant, also based in Leek, which was commissioned in 2009 and is the largest pre-​packer of cheese to the British retail sector.

According to the IBD, this new dedicated powder blending production facility further strengthens AFI’s position in the British market as a leading specialist of dairy-​based food formulations by:

• Doubling capacity to over 20,000 tonnes per annum.
• Providing a purpose built innovation centre.
• Applying the most advanced technology in specialist dairy applications.
• Offering customers a wider range of formulations and customised premix solutions.
• Giving greater flexibility to produce a range of packaging formats to meet specific customer needs.
• The innovation centre will enhance AFI’s ability to add value to dairy ingredients and will provide AFI with the platform to develop more advanced specialist applications in partnership with food manufacturers.
• It will employ 50 people and replace AFI’s existing facility in Prince Street, Leek. The new manufacturing centre is located on a site adjacent to Adams Foods, IDB’s British consumer foods business.

In 2009, the IDB commissioned its new Adams Foods cheese pre-​packaging plant in Leek, which packs over 3.5 million packets of cheese a week. The IDB has also invested in its Meadow Cheese ingredients plant in Herefordshire.

Speaking at the official opening, Minister McEntee said, “This initiative consolidates the position of the Irish Dairy Board and indeed the dairy sector in our most important export market. Exports of dairy products to the UK in 2010 were valued at almost €800m and there is considerable growth potential in this market.

“Food Harvest 2020 sets ambitious targets for the development of the Irish dairy industry over the next decade. Establishing more efficient routes to market will be a critical requirement if we are to maximise the potential of the sector. I am delighted to see that IDB is playing its part in this effort, and I congratulate all of those involved in bringing this ambitious project to fruition.”

Last month the IDB opened a new representative office in Algeria as a critical base from which to develop and extend the IDB’s footprint in North Africa.

Source: IDB

• If you enjoyed this article, you may also like this: Irish Dairy Board sales up 6%, as surplus declines

See also

Latest news

• Proposed merger between Arla Foods and Milk Link
• Lifeway Foods expands retail presence
• Fonterra opens new innovation centre in Shanghai
• $1m boost to help dairy farmers save on energy
• Milk Link wins top award at UK county show