Glanbia Foods Invests in the Future of Cheese with Innovation Center Opening

Idaho-based facility bolsters ability to collaborate and create new dairy products with customers.

Source: Glanbia

Glanbia Foods on Wednesday opened the doors of its Cheese Innovation Center, where its industry experts will work alongside its customers to develop the future of cheese products and bring these innovations to market across the globe.

The 14,000-square-foot facility, located in Twin Falls, Idaho, houses some of the most advanced equipment in the industry, enabling Glanbia to develop products with its customers from concept to reality.

"The Glanbia Foods Cheese Innovation Center is a great economic boost for the Twin Falls region and the state," said Senator Jim Risch. "Idaho and its dairy farmers already play a major role in meeting the huge demand for cheese and dairy products worldwide and this Innovation Center will ensure that our state remains at the forefront of this important industry."

"The Cheese Innovation Center represents our commitment to and investment in our customer relationships, the global cheese industry and our local community," said Jeff Williams, President and CEO of Glanbia Foods. "This will be a tremendous resource for our partners, a destination where leading minds of our industry will collaborate side by side with access to the tools and technology to create tomorrow’s products today."

Glanbia Foods customers, company executives, local and state dignitaries and several community members attended a grand opening event to celebrate the completion of the Cheese Innovation Center. Many attendees also had the opportunity to tour the center, which includes milk processing facilities, a state of the art lab, a test kitchen and an area for sensory evaluation of products.

"While we’ve always taken great pride in partnering with customers to develop industry-leading products, the Cheese Innovation Center elevates our ability to create new products, processes, services, and solutions to satisfy changing market needs," said Dave Perry, Director of Cheese Innovation. "We now have every resource we need under one roof, from our on-site experts to cutting-edge technology and equipment, to capture market opportunities at a quicker pace than ever before."

The new facility, located at 161 4th Avenue South, is adjacent to the new headquarters for Glanbia’s U.S. cheese business. The construction of the new facility supported approximately 70 full-time construction jobs, and will bring approximately 100 corporate employees into the downtown area of Twin Falls.

Glanbia Foods is the world’s largest producer of American Style Cheese. Headquartered in Twin Falls, Idaho, Glanbia Foods works closely with dairy operations to receive quality milk needed to produce award-winning cheese. With the help of more than 950 employees, Glanbia Foods and its sister company Southwest Cheese makes, sells and ships more than 860 million pounds of cheese annually, serving customers in close to 30 countries.

Glanbia Foods is a powerful global cheese player and a division of Glanbia plc, a global nutritional solutions and cheese group with leading market positions in cheese, whey proteins, sports nutrition and micronutrient premixes. Headquartered in Ireland, Glanbia shares are listed on the Irish and London stock exchanges.