Brasil Foods opens new cheese factory in Brazil

Brazilian food company BRF Brasil Foods has opened a BRL30m ($16.99m) cheese factory in Goiás, Brazil.

The new plant will enable the company to increase its cheese production by 1,000t per month and will cater primarily to the north and northeast regions of the country.

It will produce Sadia and Santa Rosa branded mozzarella cheese as well as Dobon branded milk compound, which is marketed exclusively in the north region of Brazil.

BRF dairy unit vice- president Fábio Medeiros said the company is mindful of the continued growth of the dairy sector, especially in the category of cheese, which represents annually about BRL7bn ($3.96bn).

"Every year we sell nearly 700,000t of cheese in the country, with the predominant share in mozzarella and prato cheeses," said Medeiros.

The company already operates a dairy complex in Goiás, where it sources 14 million litres per month of raw material from nearly 800 producers and manufactures butter, flavoured products, milk powder, UHT cream and milk.

The dairy complex produces items under Batavo, Elegê, Cotochés and Santa Rosa brands and serves the southeast, northeast, north and midwest regions of the country.

The company also operates a cheese plant in Terenos, which serves the southeast, midwest and northeast regions.

Currently, the Terenos plant has a capacity of 400t per month of cheese, and BRF plans to boost it to 600t per month over the next six months.

BRF, which owns Perdigão, Sadia, Batavo and Elegê brands, is a principal dairy processor in Brazil and its portfolio includes 3,000 products, including meat, milk, margarine, pasta, frozen entrees and frozen vegetables.