Idaho Milk Products completed a $30 million expansion and new R&D facility at its Jerome, Idaho-based headquarters manufacturing plant.

“We are very pleased to reach the end of a multi-faceted $30 million-plus project that has been ongoing for the last year,” says Daragh Maccabee, chief executive officer. “We have increased our capacity by a third, invested in new equipment and automation, expanded our warehouse, upgraded our people facilities and made a step change commitment to innovation and product development. The various aspects of the project speak to all the things that we try to do better every day – maximizing our efficiency and throughput, striving to create and maintain a world-class organization, being relevant to our customers and the markets we operate in and all with sustainability in mind. All who contributed along the way can be proud of the achievements in the first decade and all of us here today are excited at the potential for the next one.”

The expansion took 266 days and 57,220 man hours to complete. This expansion enables Idaho Milk Products to process an additional 1 million pounds of milk per day.

“I’m very thankful the ownership group had the vision to invest in this expansion in southern Idaho,” says Joe Henry, vice president of sales and marketing. “This expansion allows us to serve the growing needs of our customers for years to come. Idaho Milk Products is a world-class organization, and I’m very excited and welcome the 25 new hires who have joined our family.”  

The new R&D facility includes equipment to work and test ready-to-drink beverages, yogurts, ready-to-mix products, ice cream, protein bars, retort processing and more.

“At Idaho Milk Products, we have a strong belief in science-based innovation. With our optimal, proprietary and cold loop temperature-controlled processes, we are able to produce award-winning world-class milk ingredients,” says Dr. Chenchaiah Marella, vice president of research and product development. “To continue our investment in innovation, we have added new processes and a state-of-the-art pilot plant. This represents a step change in our customer collaboration and new product development capabilities enabling us to provide technical support and application assistance in a timely manner and with increased levels of confidence and credibility.”