SACHSENMILCH: INVESTING IN FUTURE MARKETS WITH NEW WHEY PROCESSING FACILITY
(Leppersdorf, 12.09.2011) Today, around two years after work began, new investment “Molke IV” was officially unveiled at the biggest Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller production site at Leppersdorf in Saxony. Representing investment of around 70 million Euros, the new facility will extend the site’s product offering through the manufacture of more highly processed milk and whey products. This will increase production capacity for whey powder derivatives by around 50 percent to an annual volume of some 100,000 tonnes of whey dry mass. “The trend towards healthy lifestyle continues unabated – especially in the food sector. This means very good global demand for high-grade proteins meeting the highest quality requirements. We supply this market with our special whey products”, said Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller executive manager Stefan Müller in his opening speech to 160 guests from the worlds of economy and politics, including Minister-President of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich.
The aim behind the new Molke IV investment is entry into new sensitive trend markets in the powder segment. The new premium products produced in Leppersdorf are not just for classic whey customers from the confectionery, bakery, drinks and milk industries, but also for use in the sports, infant and clinical nutrition sectors. Whey processing at the site also meets the requirements of the halal, kosher and vegetarian sectors, which also opens up new markets. The new umbrella marketing brand Sachsenmilch Milk & Whey Ingredients delivers clear recognition of Sachsenmilch products. The brand also delivers the desired “Quality from Germany” positioning.
Using technology currently unique throughout the world, skimmed milk and sweet and acid whey from the Group’s own dairies will be separated into their various components using the latest membrane technology in the dairy itself, where they will then be carefully processed into premium whey proteins, micellar casein concentrates, lactose and natural milk calcium. “Investing in the Molke IV facility enables us to consolidate the position of Leppersdorf as the biggest and most up to date dairy facility in Europe. It is also strong proof of the ability of the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller to innovate”, said Stefan Müller.
The new whey processing product offering and newly required inspection methods for ultra pure protein quality control brought with it an investment of 2.2 million Euros in quality management. Doubling laboratory space and installing a registered pathogen laboratory also contributed to meeting the strict quality requirements of the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller in this respect.
“Congratulations on completing this project. It not only strengthens the global market position of a Saxony-based company, but it is also a further step towards ensuring the longevity of the site”, said Minister-President of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich in his speech.
2,000 people are employed at the Leppersdorf site, and every year, 20 young people start training here for a total of nine different jobs. 90 percent of them will be kept on at the end of their training. Molke IV has created 36 new jobs. Another major project is currently at planning stage – the plan is for a combined heat and power station to produce steam and electricity, covering the future energy needs of the biggest dairy plant in Europe. Extending the natural cheese maturing facility to double annual capacity to 32,000 tonnes of naturally matured cheese is currently underway.