When the new plant goes into full production towards the end of the year it will double Clandeboye’s output of individually quick-frozen mozzarella, made in six hours rather than three months.
Eighteen of 19 silos have been installed to hold up to 1.25 million litres of milk and other liquid streams.
Operations manager Steve McKnight said the pipe bridge connecting the new plant with the rest of the site had been completed, using 21km of steel weighing 173 tonnes, and capable of holding 230,000l.
The construction team numbered 175 people and 75 of the 100 people required for round-the-clock plant operations had begun training, to be joined by the rest in February.
“There’s a real buzz in the air onsite, as we have more people onsite and the plant takes shape,” McKnight said.
“It’s great to have a whole lot of people joining the Fonterra family who will help us provide a legacy for the future as we become the largest producer of natural mozzarella in the southern hemisphere.”
The capital expenditure was announced in December 2016, to take nearly two years and cost $240m.
It was the biggest single investment into food service capacity on the way to expanding the added-value division to $5 billion revenue by 2023.
The expanded mozzarella capacity will require a much-enlarged volume of winter milk from farmer-shareholders in the region, from May onwards.
