DFA, Fonterra, Lactalis are top milk processors

Dairy Farmers of America leads the ranking of the world’s top milk processors, according to a report from IFCN. DFA’s milk intake was 28.1 million tons (milk equivalent) in 2015. No. 2 to 10 are: Fonterra, Groupe Lactalis, Arla Foods, Nestle, FrieslandCampina, Dean Foods, DMK, Saputo and California Dairies Inc. New to the top 20 are Agropur and Schreiber Foods. See http://www.ifcndairy.org/en/news/2016/Top20MilkProcessorList2016.php

Graham’s The Family Dairy to sell ice cream in Lidl stores

Scottish retailer Lidl reported a deal with Graham’s The Family Dairy that will see ice cream added to the growing list of products sold under its Aberdoyle Dairies brand throughout its 91 stores across Scotland. Graham’s currently supplies milk, butter, cheese, and cottage cheese to Lidl, with other dairy products in the pipeline and is developing its new facility in Glenfield, Fife, to help meet the demand. The new multi-million pound deal over the next 12 months builds on the 30 products already sold under the Aberdoyle Dairies brand, with yet more to follow later in the year. Source: Aberdoyle Dairies

SPX to build 2 dairy plants in China, one in France

SPX Flow Inc. has been awarded three contracts worth over a combined $55 million. In China, it has been contracted to design, engineer and construct two greenfield liquid dairy factories that will produce a range of fresh and long-life dairy products including a variety of yoghurts, milks, cheeses and nutritionally enriched dairy beverages. The new factories are expected to begin operations in 2017.

In France, SPX Flow has been contracted to design, engineer and construct a fresh dairy factory that will utilize its pasteurization, cream incubation and clean-in-place technologies. Source: SPX Flow

Nestle will build factory in Vietnam to make ready-to-drink chocolate malt beverages

Nestlé Vietnam has begun construction of a new factory in Hung Yen province, North of Vietnam. As part of our commitment to a sustainable business, the new site will have state of the art technology to optimize its use of natural resources and minimize its environmental footprint. This is Nestlé Vietnam’s sixth factory in the country and will produce Milo ready-to-drink chocolate malt beverage. It will provide up to 300 jobs for the local community by May of 2017. Source: Nestle

Bel Group offers cheese spreads in new packaging

Kiri and La Vache Qui Rit from the Bel Group have a brand new look, according to packaging supplier Verstraete IML. The BEL Group switched from thermoformed packaging with self-adhesive labels to IML packaging. The packaging and labelling are now integrated into one whole. The packaging has rounded corners and an asymmetrical shape. The five sizes are: 200 g, 300 g, 350 g, 500 g and 700 g.

Stanislas Viaud, Packaging Development Manager of the international cheese producer BEL Group explained: “Our aim was to surprise consumers with packaging shapes that had never been seen before and with a unique look and feel. Our re-branded cheese spread packaging had to look fresh and had stand out in comparison to traditional cheese spread packaging. It soon became clear that we could only achieve this with the IML technology.”
Source: Verstraete IML