Ornua opens cheese manufacturing facility in Spain

Irish agri-food co-operative Ornua has further strengthened its footprint in Spain by opening a cheese production facility in Ávila.

Built with an investment of €30m, the facility is located at Ornua’s former cheese manufacturing site, which was destroyed by a devastating fire.

Ornua CEO John Jordan said: “Today’s opening of our new cheese facility here in Ávila is fully in line with Ornua’s growth strategy of investing in world-class strategic production facilities to secure long term returns for Irish dairy farmers.

“This major investment will play a key role in enhancing our cheese ingredients capacity and capabilities. It will reinforce our position as a leading, large scale supplier of high-quality dairy ingredients to many leading Spanish, European and global food manufacturing and foodservice customers.

“Our new Avila R&D Centre of Excellence becomes the 10th innovation centre in our international network, which will ensure that Ornua has the capability to support our customers at the forefront of the rapidly changing dairy ingredients market.”

Initially, the facility will have the capacity to produce 35,000t of mozzarella and pizza cheese, which the company intends to increase to 70,000t at a later stage.

The company noted that the opening of the new facility is part of its strategy to further strengthen its position as a pizza cheesemaker and supplier.

Equipped with new processing technologies, the newly rebuilt facility would employ more than 120 people in the region.

Through the new Ávila facility, the company also aims to diversify its product portfolio and build scale.

Irish Ambassador to Spain Sile Maguire said: “The new Ornua facility in Ávila reflects Irish and Spanish commitment to excellence and innovation in the food industry and our shared confidence in this vital sector.”

Additionally, the company created a new division, called Ornua Ingredients Europe, to combine its Spanish and UK Ingredients businesses.