Dairy producer Lactalis USA plans to invest more than $75 million in new equipment and other upgrades at two facilities in upstate New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced late last month.
The bulk of the spending — some $60 million — would go to an expansion of the company’s cheese and whey powder plant in Buffalo. Lactalis plans to install six 50,000-pound vats, along with an advanced cheese belt and separators, silos and a robotic palletizer.
The project would also relocate the plant’s cheese lab and bolster production of Galbani brand mozzarella, provolone and ricotta cheeses.
The other $15 million would go toward automating and expanding production of cottage cheese and sour cream for the company’s Breakstone’s brand at its plant in Walton, New York.
Empire State Development, the state’s economic development agency, offered $750,000 in tax credits for the Walton project and $550,000 for the Buffalo expansion. State officials said the projects would add 50 jobs to their combined workforce of 800.
The projects are slated to be completed in 2027.
Lactalis USA CEO Esteve Torrens said that the plants are key to growing the business in the U.S.
“Our Buffalo plant is home to a significant ricotta and mozzarella production under the Galbani brand,” Torrens said in the statement. “Our Walton plant continues a rich tradition since 1882 of producing Breakstone’s Sour Cream and is essential to strengthening our cottage cheese business in a rapidly growing category.”
