Glanbia Foods, Twin Falls, Idaho, announced a major expansion to its manufacturing and production plants in Gooding and Twin Falls, Idaho, projecting an $82 million investment and creating up to 50 new jobs.

“This expansion is strongly aligned with our strategy of adding further value to our whey stream,” says Daragh Maccabee, executive vice president and CFO. “The company considered various options and locations for these new activities, but ultimately came to the conclusion that Idaho was the right location. We have a long track record in Idaho, and the support of the state and local communities was instrumental in our choice of Idaho for renewed expansion.”

Specifically, Glanbia will invest in manufacturing processes to meet the growing demand for high-quality whey products, such as:

• The expansion of high-end whey protein production in Gooding to include whey protein isolate.
• The creation of a center of excellence for the in-house blending and agglomeration of high-end nutritional products.
• The introduction of lactoferrin production to the Twin Falls location and the internal drying capacity expanded to cater for both Twin Falls and Gooding production.

To facilitate these developments and further future growth, Glanbia will install a 30 MW energy sub-station on current Glanbia land at the Gooding facility, freeing up 12 MW of existing capacity for alternative uses in the area.

The new facilities will be fully operational by 2016.