Central Diaries resumes operations after fire
Owner Agropur says, ‘Cleanup and repairs have been completed’
On Monday, March 11, a late-night fire at the rear of the Central Dairies processing plant in Mount Pearl’s Donovans Business Park affected the dairy’s operations.
Agropur Dairy Co-operative, owner of Central Dairies, issued a statement on Tuesday, March 19, about the extent of damages.
“The fire occurred in a storage unit and was quickly contained. It never made it into the main building where operations are located,” read the statement.
“But smoke and water did cause damage to some of our equipment.”
MITIGATING IMPACT
Due to the damage, Agropur said, it took steps to mitigate the impact on customers last week.
“We maximized our network and shipped milk processed at other Agropur facilities to Newfoundland and Labrador,” read the statement.
But requiring the use of ferries for delivery posed a challenge, the co-operative stated.
“We asked Saputo, which owns the other fluid milk processing plant, to help us increase the milk availability,” read the statement.
RESUMING OPERATIONS
Agropur said that after addressing milk availability, it had to clean, replace and repair any damaged equipment.
“Because the plant handles food production, we needed to meet the highest standards of cleanliness before we could resume operations,” read the statement.
Agropur said Central Dairies resumed production Tuesday in Mount Pearl, “as the necessary clean-up and repairs have been completed.”
Agropur added that while operations have resumed, over the next few days consumers will continue to see the Farmers branded milk on store shelves.
“This is only until the plant returns to full capacity and we would like to thank our customers for their patience during this process,” read the statement.