Southwest Cheese

Overview

Southwest Cheese is located in Clovis, New Mexico, USA, and is one of the largest natural cheese and high-protein whey processing plants in the world. The business is in its third year of operation and produced 136,000 tonnes of American-style cheddar cheese and other American-style varieties of cheese in 2008, equivalent to 7.5% of the US market. It is a 50:50 joint venture between Glanbia and The Greater Southwest Agency. Glanbia markets all of the products produced. Southwest Cheese employs over 270 people.

2008 was an excellent year for Southwest Cheese and the business delivered a strong recovery in results for the year, compared with 2007. Output increased as planned to reach full capacity.

Demand was favourable and operational excellence continued with strong day-to-day management at the facility. A highlight of 2008 was achieving a World Cheese Championship gold medal in the first year of entering the competition. A gold medal was also awarded at the US Cheese Championship in March 2009.

2009 Outlook

The outlook for Southwest Cheese is good. The people, plant and processes have proven capabilities with the markets for American-style cheddar cheese and high-protein whey product continuing to grow. Milk production is robust in the New Mexico and West Texas regions and this positions the business for continued growth. A planned 50% expansion in production capacity is currently being finalised.

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Southwest Cheese