FDBusiness.com

Danone Baby Nutrition plans to invest Eur50m to significantly expand capacity at its baby food manufacturing plant at Macroom in Ireland. A subsidiary of French food and beverages group Danone, Danone Baby Nutrition manufactures specialised infant and toddler milks.

Construction is due to commence in February 2011 with the new facilities coming on stream at the start of 2012. On completion, the Macroom factory will be the largest and most technologically advanced manufacturing centre in Danone Baby Nutrition’s global network. The expansion will result in a trebling of capacity to 100,000 tonnes annually, due to the establishment of a new drying line at the facility. About 98% of the output from Macroom will be exported to more than 60 countries worldwide.

The investment project is expected to result in the creation of 40 new jobs the areas of food science, engineering and supply chain management to add to Danone Baby Nutrition’s existing Irish workforce of 350 people, employed between its plants at Macroom and Wexford, which produce the Cow and Gate and Aptamil brands.