Suntado, a U.S.-based contract manufacturer of dairy and other beverages, has opened a 190,000-square-foot production facility in Burley, Idaho.
The company expects the facility to be commercially ready this month, at which time it will be able to process up to 1 million pounds of local milk per day into stable, extended shelf life (ESL) milk and other liquid dairy products.
The new site has the capacity to produce a wide variety of dairy and non-dairy beverages and incorporates a vertically integrated milk supply. The site processes and packages products in one place.
Located in Idaho, the third largest dairy producing state in the US, the site is owned by Dirk Reitsma and Jesús Hurtado, who own 6,000 organic and 30,000 conventional dairy cows within 20 miles of the processing facility, ensuring supply of fresh local milk to the plant.
Tory Nichols, office of the CEO of Suntado, said: “This vertically integrated facility and our product offering are completely different to anything that exists right now. I am excited that we built this plant from the ground up, creating a secure supply of locally sourced milk. “This facility will offer countless brands the flexibility and scalability they are looking for, and Tetra Pak’s contributions and stable storage expertise have proven invaluable to our efforts along the way.”
This is the first phase of a three-phase project for the facility, located on 23 acres of land; When all three phases are complete, the site is expected to have triple the capacity.
The facility will not produce its own brand of Suntado dairy products; instead, it will allow retailers and national brands to create private label beverages.
The initial focus is on long-life and ESL milk, cream and other dairy-based beverages, with the ability to expand to other non-dairy beverages in the future.
Many of the new products will be packaged in Tetra Pak cartons. Seth Teply, president and CEO of Tetra Pak US and Canada, commented: “With a longer shelf life and no need to refrigerate until opened, shelf-stable dairy products support the transformation of food systems by increasing access. to safe food and reduce food waste. . “We are excited that Suntado has chosen to work with us to create the innovative dairy and beverage facility of the future.”
The initial project includes five Tetra Pak shelf life and ESL packaging lines, including two TT/3 filling machines for the production of Tetra Top containers in 500 ml, 750 ml and 1 liter sizes. Also includes two A3/Flex aseptic filling machines for the production of Tetra Brik Aseptic Edge containers in 500 ml, 1 liter ml sizes, and one A3/Compact Flex aseptic filling machine for the production of Tetra Prisma Aseptic containers with DreamCap in a 250 ml format. size.
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