Dairy Board Manufacturing & Innovation Centre Open

Adams Food Ingredients is a state of the art food ingredients manufacturer occupying a 65,000 square foot premises in Leek in Staffordshire.

The new facility doubles existing milk powder blending capacity to more than 20,000 tonnes per annum, and includes an innovation centre dedicated to developing customised dairy ingredients aimed at customers in Britain and export markets. It supplements an already strong IDB presence in Leek, where Adams Foods Limited packs over 3.5 million packets of cheese a week and is the largest pre-packer of cheese to the British retail sector.

Speaking at the official opening, Minister McEntee said: "This initiative consolidates the position of the Irish Dairy Board and indeed the Irish dairy sector in our most important export market. Indeed exports of dairy products to the UK in 2010 were valued at almost €800 million and there is considerable growth potential in this market. Food Harvest 2020 sets ambitious targets for the development of the Irish dairy industry over the next decade.

Establishing more efficient routes to market will be a critical requirement if we are to maximise the potential of the sector. I am delighted to see that IDB is playing its part in this effort, and I congratulate all of those involved in bringing this ambitious project to fruition.

Referring to the innovation component of the project, Minister McEntee said that he was delighted to see that IDB had the vision and foresight to recognise the critical importance of innovative product development in the context of developing its business: "I am particularly pleased to see a strong innovative component to this project, which will result in the establishment of a platform for the development of new and exciting products adding value to the best Irish dairy ingredients into the future."

"A strong focus on innovation is a critical success factor for the Irish agri food sector and this IDB initiative is compatible with the ambitious targets set for the development of the Irish dairy sector in Food Harvest 2020".

Concluding, the Minister congratulated Irish Dairy Board CEO Kevin Lane and his team on successfully completing this latest phase in developing new routes to market for Irish dairy products, and wished them continued success in their endeavours.