AFTER 12 months under construction, a $50M specialty nutritional ingredients plant is now operational at the Freedom Foods Group Shepparton plant.
The new line received all regulatory approvals recently for operations of the new plant, which will be taking excess proteins from the production of the plant’s UHT line and using it to create specialty nutritional ingredients.
The new plant will produce casein and whey to be used in sports performance drinks, bars and more. The plant is also looking into the production of lactoferrin, which it hopes to have coming off the lines of the new plant later this financial year. The products will initially be sent across the Australian domestic market, with plans to export the product when the lactoferrin is introduced.
Freedom Foods Group managing director, Rory Macleod met with The Adviser yesterday to walk us through the new production area, saying that the company is also looking at a further $40M to $45M expansion to the UHT side of the factory, meaning there will be capacity to grow the new nutritional side.
“Over the next 12 to 18 months we are looking at additional capacities for an increase in production of the UHT milk, casein and whey. The production of raw milk into 2019 will be upwards of 400 million litres with a total capacity of 500 million litres,” Mr Macleod said.
“The growth of the UHT side of the plant is critical to the protein flow for the nutritional side.”
