Dairygold Food Products is planning a £4 million (€5 million) capital investment programme at its cheese making facilities in Co Cork and is also planning to launch a new range of products.
The company hopes the new products and investment plan will boost turnover in its cheese division by 20 per cent within the next five years.
The money will be invested in new line equipment to provide high speed and high volume production at its facilities located at Mitchelstown. The investment will also support the recently launched Dairy gold food service, which provides cheese products to the catering industry.
The company currently owns five cheese brands - Mitchelstown Cheddar, Galtee, Calvita, Ballyclough and Three Counties. According to the company the brands now have an annual turnover of £28 million - about 40 per cent of the total Irish cheese market.
As part of the investment, the company is commissioning a new soft cheese making facility at Mitchelstown, where a range of new cream cheese products will be produced for the domestic and overseas markets like Japan. Another brand the company is planning to launch is called Kinsale, developed at a specialised cheese manufacturing plant at Mongeely, Co Cork.
Dairygold also plans to further develop its Horlicks Mature Cheddar brand, mainly sold in the UK and manufactured in Somerset.
Some of the older parts of its production facilities will be scrapped and replaced as part of the investment programme. Separate from the capital investment, the company is also set to spend £2.5 million on television and radio advertising and other forms of promotion.
