Müller to set up new butter production facility in UK

Dairy company Müller Wiseman has announced its plans to open a new butter production facility in Shropshire, UK, with a total investment of £17m.

The company claims that the new production facility, which will be built in Market Drayton, will be the largest butter plant in the country.

Scheduled to be commissioned this autumn, the plant will have a capacity to process the 90,000t of the cream that is produced by Müller Wiseman in the UK, and is expected to manufacture nearly 45,000t of butter.

Speaking at a dairy conference in Glasgow, Müller UK and Ireland chief operating officer Ronald Kers said that the company also plans a recruitment drive in the spring to employ new dairy producers.

"We want to invest in the UK and make ourselves more competitive on a worldwide basis, which means we need more milk," Kers noted.

"We need more milk and we need more farmers that are supporting us – we need to do this in a sense of urgency," he said.

Until now Müller’s UK operations have focused on yoghurt; branching out into butter production will bring the company’s operations in the country more in line with its business model in Germany, where its Leppersdorf factory produces a wide range of dairy products.

Meanwhile, over the coming four months, the company also plans to work on a project in partnership with its farmer board, in order to evaluate how milk is valued.

Müller Wiseman was formed in 2012 when Müller Dairy UK acquired British fresh milk company Robert Wiseman Dairies in a transaction worth £279.5m.

Müller Wiseman operates as a subsidiary of Müller Dairy UK, which produces and markets yogurt and various other dairy products, including yogurt drinks, fruit juice jelly, cheesecake yogurt and chocolate sprinkles.

Müller Dairy UK is owned by German-based Theo Mueller, which is known for its Müller brand of yogurts and creamed rice and has a turnover of £1.8bn.

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Image: Until now Müller’s UK operations have focused on yoghurt; with the production of butter, the company is seeking to increase its market share. Photo courtesy of Müller Wiseman Dairies.