UK: Ornua to invest £3 million at cheese packing facility

Dairy firm Ornua has announced an investment of £3 million ($4 million) in “state-of-the-art” cutting and packaging equipment at its facility in Leek, UK.

The funds will be used to install an additional high-speed cheese slicing line and the expansion of Ornua’s cheese grating capabilities which will result in an additional 7,000 tonnes of capacity, bringing total annual production to over 110,000 tonnes, the company said.

The investment is said to come at a time when the company is experiencing strong business growth in both branded and own-label cheese.

Bill Hunter, Ornua Foods UK managing director, said: “Ornua Foods UK’s success is based upon our commitment to delivering a comprehensive range of high quality products to our retail customers in the most consistent and efficient manner possible. Central to this is our Leek cheese cutting and packing facility, one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in Europe and home to Pilgrims Choice, one of the nation’s most popular cheddar brands. Our latest £3 million investment at Leek will further enhance our cheese packing capacity and capabilities delivering further improvements in yield and efficiencies, as well as allowing us to respond to growing consumer demand for cheese in sliced and grated formats”.

Source: Ornua