Arla Foods Ingredients is to invest €120 million in a new lactose manufacturing facility in Denmark.
The plant will be established next to Arla Foods Ingredients’ existing main protein factory in Jutland, and will have an annual capacity of 85,000 tonnes of lactose.
Construction is scheduled to be completed by October 2014, and the plant will be fully operational in 2016. The new factory will be designed to satisfy growing demand for lactose in the infant formula industry.
Together with Arla Foods Ingredients’ existing joint-venture lactose plants in Germany, the added capacity will increase the company’s overall lactose volumes to approximately 135,000 tonnes per year.
“This investment sends a strong signal to the whey ingredients market that we remain committed to supplying high quality products to the global nutrition and food industry,” said Henrik Andersen, CEO of Arla Foods Ingredients. “We have had a very constructive dialogue with a number of leading customers regarding their future demands for lactose quality, and our new plant will deliver on these demands.”
Lactose, a milk sugar, is a carbohydrate and a natural component of milk. It is extracted industrially from whey by evaporation and crystallisation. Common commercial applications include infant formulas, chocolate, confectionery and bakery products. Cows’ milk contains about 4.5% lactose, compared with the 7% found in human milk.
