Glanbia and JV partners plan $140m investment to expand New Mexico cheese facility

Glanbia and its joint venture partners in Southwest Cheese are holding advanced talks for a $140m expansion of their cheese and whey production plant in Clovis, New Mexico.

This expansion is likely to be completed in two years and will bolster milk processing capacity by almost 30% whilst creating another 50 jobs.

The joint venture, between Glanbia and the dairy cooperatives of the Greater Southwest Agency that comprises Dairy Farmers of America and Select Milk Producers, processes over 220 truckloads of milk daily.

This makes it one of the world’s largest single manufacturing site of high-end quality cheese and whey protein.

Glanbia Global Ingredients CEO Brian Phelan said: "I am delighted to announce, together with our joint venture dairy cooperative partners, that we are at an advanced stage in our discussions for the expansion of Southwest Cheese. Since the commissioning of the plant in 2005 the partnership has been extremely successful.

"With this expansion we are making a significant commitment to our employees, our producers, our customers, our local community and the economy of New Mexico as we seek to capture further domestic and international cheese and whey market share."

Acknowledging the importance of local and state government support in New Mexico, Phelan continued: "The construction of Southwest Cheese started in 2004 on a greenfield site in Clovis. During our ten years in the community we have expanded production and grown our footprint. We are thankful to the local and state government and agency support."

The facility will cater to cheese and whey demand in both domestic and overseas markets.

This expansion will increase the employee count of Southwest Cheese to over 400 in Clovis.

In this joint venture, 50% stake is owned by Glanbia while the remaining are primarily owned by DFA and Select Milk Producers.

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Image: The plant expansion will lead to increase in production of cheese and whey. Photo: Courtesy of Zole4/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.