Danone Baby Nutrition Invests in Irish Plant

The expansion will result in a tripling of its capacity to 100,000 tons annually, due to the creation of a new drying line at the plant. Today, 98% of Macroom’s total production is exported and sold in over 60 countries worldwide.

5/9/2011 --- Danone Baby Nutrition, a subsidiary of the Danone Group, which produces formula milk for infants and toddlers, has taken the first steps of a €50 million investment plan in their production facility in Macroom, Co. Cork, Ireland. As part of the investment, GEA Process Engineering has received an order on €25 million on expanding and upgrading the Macroom plant.

The design phase of the project began in February 2011 and commercial operations are expected to start by the end of the first quarter 2012.

GEA Process Engineering’s subsidiary in Ireland will manage the order from Danone and act as Danone's single point of contact for companies within GEA. The investment, which is supported by the Irish Government through Enterprise Ireland, will finance an expansion and upgrade of the existing plant.

At completion, the Macroom plant will be the largest and most technologically advanced manufacturing centre in Danone Baby Nutrition's global network. The expansion will result in a tripling of its capacity to 100,000 tons annually, due to the creation of a new drying line at the plant. Today, 98% of Macroom’s total production is exported and sold in over 60 countries worldwide.

The investment is the single largest investment Danone has made in its baby nutrition division globally. The effect will be felt across a number of fronts: 40 new jobs at the plant in the areas of food science, engineering and supply chain management and an estimated additional 200 jobs in the construction phase.