Glanbia Foods Inc.  purchased the Sartori Foods cheese plant in Blackfoot, Idaho.  Glanbia said in a statement that the acquisition is "a key enabler" to its strategy to not only be the largest producer of American-style cheese, but to also be the most innovative producer of American-style cheese.

“This acquisition further demonstrates Glanbia’s commitment to innovation and to the long-term sustainability of dairy in Idaho,” said Jeff Williams, President and CEO of Glanbia Foods. “This manufacturing plant represents the ‘right size’ cheese plant that will allow us to take new product development out of our Cheese Innovation Center to commercial scale in a reduced time cycle,” continued Williams. As it has in other areas where it operates, Glanbia will establish itself as a key partner in the Blackfoot community and bring additional economic value to the area. 

“The Blackfoot plant has a long history of producing quality cheese. We are excited about the prospects of building on that tradition,” said John Mutchler, EVP Supply Chain. “The plant is located in a region that has a strong local supply of high quality milk which will allow Glanbia to make gold-medal quality cheese that meets our customers’ needs.

Glanbia Foods, Inc. has been headquartered in Idaho for 23 years and over that time has experienced significant growth, becoming the largest producer of American-style cheese in the world producing more than 880 million pounds of cheese annually. In addition to supplying cheese and value-added whey products to domestic customers, Glanbia ships dairy products to 30 countries across the globe.

Glanbia is No. 22 on the Dairy 100, Dairy Foods' annual ranking of North America's largest dairy processors. The company reported revenues of $1.6 billion in 2011.