05/25/05 Glanbia Foods expands again in Gooding

The state's largest cheese maker keeps growing. Glanbia Foods is expanding its Gooding plant where they now produce 500 pound barrels of natural cheddar cheese. Chief executive officer Jeff Williams says two new cheese vats, a couple more cheese towers, a new belt and cooler expansion are part of the 13 million dollar plant addition. WILLIAMS "We're doing just a hair over seven million pounds of milk a day. This is about a 20 percent increase so we'll be around 8.5 million pounds of milk a day in the Gooding facility then." Glanbia now relies on a daily milk supply from 100 thousand cows for its Gooding plant. The expansion which completed a year from now will require milk from an additional ten to 20 thousand cows. Williams says predictions that the Idaho dairy industry will grow at least five percent this year would mean an additional one million 250 thousand pounds of milk a day on top of the 25 million pounds a day produced in 2004. WILLIAMS "After four months we're already up over nine percent verses last year. So if that pace continues somewhere north of two million pounds extra a day. So we think the cows will be there, the milk will be there." Most of that milk for the expansion is expected to come from new dairies in the Mini-Cassia area. Glanbia is also adding some new equipment at its Twin Falls cheese plant. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott