Tírlan announced a €126 million investment for its whey processing facility at its Ballyragget site in Co. Kilkenny today (Friday, November 14).

The investment is said to be a strategic 'value add' decision with Tírlan claiming whey's popularity has sky rocketed.

Tírlan chair, John Murphy said: "If we invest today, we will have a bright outlook for tomorrow."

Tírlan's Ballyragget site is the flagship site out of the co-op's seven dairy processing sites in Ireland, and it remains one of the largest integrated dairy sites in Europe.

The site processes 1.2 billion litres of milk annually, and 1.3 billion litres of whey, as the processor's Wexford and Belview plants also have their whey processed at Ballyragget.

Murphy said: "With today's announcement Ballyragget is going to get a lot bigger, and particularly move up the value chain which is really important."

The Tírlan chair called it an 'add value investment' as whey protein becomes increasingly more popular across the world.

When speaking about the investment, Murphy told Agriland: "It is a huge vote of confidence in the dairy sector here in Ireland.

"Sure we have our pricings ups and downs, but really this is a solid business for the long term."

Murphy acknowledged that it is a tough period for dairy farmers as milk prices have dropped dramatically over the last couple of months, but said days like these are important for the co-op to 'hold its nerve' and show its ambition.

Investment

Tírlan's chief operating and consumer officer, Jim O'Neill stated that this investment, alongside the other €900 million invested in Tírlan over the last decade, is a strategy to facilitate the farmer suppliers to grow.

O'Neill stated that the investment would entail the construction of a new whey protein facility, directly behind the existing one.

A new whey intake and refrigeration facility will also be set up, with O'Neill stating that that they co-op is effectively adding whey processing facilities.

The processor currently plans to use the existing dries on site, but modifications will be made to produce whey protein isolate.

This will help the plant continue producing high quality products to meet its consumer demands while not increasing any water consumption or carbon production.

O'Neill stated that in the peak of construction, over 400 people will be employed to work on the project with the aim of completion by summer 2027.

The expansion is said to diversify the co-op's portfolio, and will see the addition of three new variants to its protein range.