Idaho Milk Products unveiled plans to construct a $200 million dual ice cream and powder blending facility at its Jerome, Idaho campus.

The company’s entry into the ice cream business comes with a focus on premium indulgent and functional recipes in both bulk and novelty formats, while blending capabilities will support the ice cream business and create capabilities to provide custom formulations to both existing and new customers.

John Murphy, vice president of operations at Idaho Milk Products, explained that “construction of the custom designed 183,000 square foot plant will commence within the next two months and be substantially complete by early 2026 with full commercial production by May 2026."

Kevin Quinn, VP of Sales & Marketing, added, “We have the freshest, best quality cream in the market, and the project was initially born out of the conviction to add incremental value to a portion of that product stream. The inclusion of a blending facility in the new plant creates new ways to service our customers and add to the benefits of our vertically integrated model”.

“We work hard every day to maintain our position as a global leader in Milk Protein Concentrates (MPC) and Isolates (MPI),” said Daragh Maccabee, CEO of Idaho Milk Products, emphasizing “that our commitment to this core business remains. At the same time, we constantly seek out new ways to add value to our milk, always doing so in a way that is sustainable for the longer term. Our vision for this plant is to build on the strength of our existing business, leverage our Milk Innovation Center, the strength of our R&D team and the unique synergies that this business will create.”

The team at Idaho Milk Products believes that this project builds on the company’s purpose, is a natural extension of its existing model and has the potential to create one of the world’s most sustainable ice cream businesses.