Lakeland dairy’s new £5m packing hall gets royal seal of approval
PRINCESS Anne has officially opened a new automated packing facility at Lakeland Dairies in Newtownards following a £5m investment by the farmer-owned co-operative.
The new facility, which was also supported by Invest NI, boosts the co-op’s export potential and market access for valued-added dairy products using locally produced milk.
It is part of an overall £27m investment by Lakeland Dairies over the past 10 years in Newtownards and follows on from the 2015 opening of its Global Logistics Centre there.
The co-operative now hopes for more international sales growth as a result of the investment adding to its £170m annual income from exports. It will focus in particular on Asian Pacific, Middle Eastern, African and American markets.
Lakeland Dairies is made up
❝ The driving aim is to create a vibrant and sustainable future for co-op dairy farmers
of over 750 family farms that produce 600 million litres of high quality, sustainable, pasture-based milk in Northern Ireland.
The co-operative employs 225 people at Newtownards and the operation supports some 700 further jobs among suppliers and contractors across Northern Ireland.
On her visit, the Princess Royal was welcomed by the Lord Lieutenant of Co Down, David Lindsay, and greeted by senior representatives of the co-operative, including chairman Alo Duffy and group chief executive Michael Hanley.
After touring the new facility, Princess Anne met members of the Board of Lakeland Dairies, the staff of the co-operative and other guests including senior executives of Invest NI and DAERA.
She then unveiled a specially commissioned plaque to mark her opening of the facility.
Alo Duffy, chairman of Lakeland Dairies, said: “The driving aim of Lakeland Dairies is to create a vibrant and sustainable future for co-operative dairy farmers and to support them with the highest possible milk prices in line with market conditions.
“We are also intent on promoting the well-being of rural communities and the environment in which we operate.
“The opening of these new facilities by the Princess Royal provides great encouragement for our co-operative ideals of Better Farming, Better Business and Better Living for our producers and the provision of exceptional service for our customers throughout the world.”
Lakeland group CEO Michael Hanley, said: “Lakeland Dairies is an internationally recognised supplier of superb dairy ingredients and food service products underpinned by outstanding, high quality raw materials in the milk that our dairy farmers send to us for processing.
“We serve the dairy product needs of leading customers in key food industry sectors worldwide.
Together with modern, large scale processing facilities and a highly skilled workforce, we are addressing many opportunities for growth and development in line with continuously strong global demand for dairy products.
“Our Newtownards base will continue to play a key role in the ongoing export success of Northern Ireland long into the future.”