Dale Farm Opens £20m Plant

A new £20m Dale Farm plant has opened near Cookstown in County Tyrone.

The Dunmanbridge plant forms part of a £39m investment supported by Invest Northern Ireland, part-funded under the European Regional Development Fund.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: "This new operation is a massive vote of confidence in the future of the dairy industry by Dale Farm. It will enable our largest dairy business to expand sales outside Northern Ireland with cheese sales mainly into Great Britain and Northern Europe and whey protein sales to China and worldwide.

"The company is already creating a significant market presence in Britain and North West Europe for its cheddar products through its marketing activities and achievements in major competitions such as the Nantwich International Cheese Festival, the UK Great Taste Awards and, last month, the World Cheese Awards 2013 in Birmingham, the industry’s biggest and most prestigious event."

Dr David Dobbin, Dale Farm Group Chief Executive, said: "Our £39m investment programme has transformed Dale Farm’s product range and production capability, enabling us to compete successfully on a global scale. We are achieving sales growth of over 30% this year and winning new business with growing sales across the British Isles and in key export markets such as China, Russia the Middle East and Africa.

"We are now well positioned to face the challenges coming out of the ending of milk quotas in 2015, especially with the doubling of our cheese and whey processing capacity at Cookstown, which will enable us to significantly increase the amount of milk we can process offering greater security to our members."

(IT/CD)