Dale Farm continues 'culture' of success

Northern Ireland's leading dairy company, Dale Farm has marked another major milestone in its ambitious growth plans with the official opening of a £3 million expansion to manufacturing and warehouse facilities at its Scottish plant.

Acquired by the company in 2002, the newly extended and upgraded production at Rowan Glen was officially opened by Scottish Minister for the Environment and Rural Development, Ross Finnie.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, David Dobbin, Dale Farm's Group Chief Executive, said: "Over the last two years, more than £3 million of capital investment has been injected into the Rowan Glen business to upgrade manufacturing facilities, enhance product Development, and increase storage and output capacity.

"This investment is paying off with turnover in this period more than doubling and a current sales growth of approximately 70% per annum. This success in sales has safeguarded existing jobs and created 10 new jobs during this latest development phase - in addition to 10 created earlier - bringing the total number employed to 55.

"With the significant additional production capacity now at the site, we are well positioned to strengthen even further our position in the GB market, which will in turn support our growth strategy across the Group."

Dale Farm's recently strengthened its mainland links with its recent acquisition of Parmalat's UK dairy processing activities at Kendal in the Lake District. Now trading as Dale Farm Kendal Ltd, the manufacturing base produces a range of yogurt, dessert and cottage cheese consumer products.

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