The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Multi- million pound boost for expanding dairy firm
Aleading dairy in Peterborough is planning a major expansion of its operations after securing a £ 3 million investment. Meadow Foods, the UK’s largest independent dairy and leading supplier of milk and dairy ingredients to the food industry, has announced the investment proposals for its site in Fengate.
The factory employs 57 people and a spokesman said it was not intended to take on extra staff as a result of the investment.
The factory is home to MeadowFoods’ fresh division where it processes and packs fresh creams, milks and cul- tured products for food manufacturers.
An initial £ 1.3m investment will be spent to fully automate and double the cultured plant’s capacity, decreasing waste and increasing efficiency, with works due to be completed by the end of February 2013.
A further £ 1.8m has been assigned to the site in the coming year, which will involve the installation of newmixtanks, inline standardisation and additional on- site storage.
Aspokesmansaid:“Thisinvestment will improve product quality and give Meadow Foods the capacity to produce enough packed cream to satisfy the entire UK market.
“The ambitious investment programme follows a very successful year in 2012 which saw a 13 per cent increase in the company’sturno- verto£ 340.9millionanda4.97 per cent increase in operating profits.
Simon Chantler, executive chairman at Meadow Foods, said: “Our strong results have allowed us to embark on this exciting reinvestment project.
“By further improving our capacity and consistency of product we believe we will continue to grow the business and bring greater opportunity to both our farmers and customers alike.”
The Peterborough site was acquired by MeadowFoods in 2009. The processing facility occupies 2.5 acres and operates seven days a week.
Meadow Foods has two other factories in Chester and Yorkshire.
The company, founded in 1992, now employs more than 250 people and has a turn over in excess of £ 340 million.