FrieslandCampina sets up mobile plant for long shelf life yogurt in Nigeria

04 Nov 2021 --- Netherlands-based FrieslandCampina is strengthening local dairy production in Nigeria by building a mobile yogurt plant, which will enable the company to process milk from local dairy farmers into yogurt drinks with a long shelf life. 

The new yogurt plant will start with processing 1.8 million kilograms of milk and can annually produce more than 18 million pouches of drinking yogurt. The project is part of the Dairy Development Programme that supports local farmers to increase their milk production, improve the quality of the milk and offer them access to the market.

“With this mobile dairy plant we help thousands of local Nigerian farmers by ensuring the sales of their milk and, consequently, their income,” explains Jeroen Elfers, corporate director dairy development and milk streams at FrieslandCampina.

“We are also creating jobs and providing the population with nutritious and affordable dairy products. In this way, we are cooperating with the Nigerian government in providing food for the rapidly growing population.” 

The processing capacity can be rapidly scaled up, the company notes. It expects to begin operations at the Nigerian plant during the first quarter of 2022.

The new yogurt plant will start with processing 1.8 million kilograms of milk and can annually produce more than 18 million pouches of drinking yogurt.Interlinked containers
With 200 million inhabitants, Nigeria is an important market to FrieslandCampina, with Peak being the best-known brand of FrieslandCampina in Nigeria.

The new mobile plant consists of five interlinked containers and was built by Scherjon Dairy Equipment and Onesto Construction in Surhuisterveen and Drachten (Netherlands) respectively. 

These five 40 ft containers will soon be shipped to Nigeria. As soon as the containers arrive at their destination, they will be interlinked, and the yogurt production can begin. 

FrieslandCampina has had its own dairy plant in Nigeria since 1974, FrieslandCampina WAMCO (West Africa Milk Company). 

In 2020, FrieslandCampina acquired the dairy company Nutricima and with this obtained a second processing location in the South-west of Nigeria and became the owner of, among others, the NuNu brand.

FrieslandCampina dairy developments
Among its recent developments in dairy, FrieslandCampina made moves last May to offload its Russian subsidiary Campina to Ehrmann.

Earlier this year, FrieslandCampina and Zeelandia joined forces to craft an accessible whey protein-based alternative to premium New York cheesecake. Dubbed The New Cheesecake, it uses local ingredients, offering bakeries and outlets in Europe and Asia the opportunity to create their own unique variations. 

FrieslandCampina also recently launched a new dairy-derived portfolio designed to help protein bar brands distinguish themselves in an increasingly crowded market. The range includes the new ingredient Excellion Textpro, designed for a softer mouthfeel. 

By Benjamin Ferrer