Lactalis USA last week announced it will invest more than $75 million to upgrade both its Walton and Buffalo, New York, facilities, enabling them to expand capacity and gain efficiencies. 

The projects in Delaware and Erie counties include the purchase of new equipment and upgrades that will allow the dairy manufacturer to retain more than 800 fulltime jobs and create more than 50 new jobs. 

The Walton plant, located at 261 Delaware Street, produces Breakstone’s Sour Cream and Cottage Cheese. It will undergo a $15 million modernization, focusing on automating and expanding the cottage cheese and sour cream production lines, enhancing efficiency, capacity, and sustainability. 

Currently, the facility has limited capacity, while market demand for nutritious high-protein foods is increasing. The facility also relies on technology that requires extensive maintenance, and the improvements will increase versatility for product innovation. The project will include new fillers, HEPA air filtration, advanced lab equipment, new roofing, boiler upgrades, and several other improvements to the facility. The upgrades will result in a 30% boost in output and create more than 20 new jobs.

The Buffalo plant, located at 2375 South Park Avenue, produces Galbani Ricotta, Mozzarella and Provolone cheese, along with whey powder that is distributed across the U.S. and abroad. 

The $60 million expansion includes the installation of six 50,000-pound vats, an advanced cheese belt, separators, silos, and a robotic palletizer. Building remodeling will include relocating the cheese lab to maintain production, increasing mozzarella and provolone production by 37 million pounds annually. Ricotta production will also be expanded, and new energy efficient technology will be added. With the addition of this expansion project, Lactalis USA has committed to investing a total of approximately $123 million in its Buffalo facilities from 2020 through the end of 2027.

In addition to creating jobs, both plants support the region’s agricultural economy by processing more than 800 million pounds of raw milk annually from 236 local dairy farmers.

“Lactalis has two plants in New York State that are key to our growing business in the United States. Our Buffalo plant is home to a significant ricotta and mozzarella production under the Galbani brand,” said Lactalis USA CEO, Esteve Torrens. “Our Walton plant continues a rich tradition since 1882 of producing Breakstone’s Sour Cream and is essential to strengthening our cottage cheese business in a rapidly growing category. We are committed to supporting the communities of Buffalo and Walton as we continue to grow in those markets and we thank Gov. Hochul and ESD (Empire State Development) for their support.”

ESD is offering $750,000 in Excelsior Jobs Program tax credits for the Walton project (which is in an economically distressed community) and $550,000 in tax credits for the Buffalo project in exchange for Lactalis’ job retention and creation commitments. The projects are expected to be completed in 2027.

New York State is home to nearly 3,000 dairy farms with 630,000 cows, producing 16.1 billion pounds of milk. New York ranks fifth in the production of milk and is first in the nation in the production of yogurt and cottage cheese.

About Lactalis USA
Lactalis USA is committed to enriching lives by producing nutritious and great tasting dairy products. The company offers an unrivaled house of beloved dairy brands in the United States including Galbani Italian cheeses, Président specialty cheeses and gourmet butters, Kraft brands in natural and grated cheeses, Breakstones cottage cheese, ricotta and sour cream, Cracker Barrel cheese, Black Diamond cheddar cheese, Parmalat milk, siggi’s and Stonyfield Organic yogurt brands. In the United States the company has approximately 4,000 employees, is present in eight states with 11 manufacturing facilities and corporate offices located in New York City and Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill., Bedford, N.H., and San Fernando, Calif. Lactalis USA is part of Lactalis Group, the world’s leading dairy company, a French family business founded in 1933 in Laval, France.