Delight over Muller's £17m Market Drayton butter factory
Delighted politicians and farmers' leaders today welcomed news that a £17 million butter plant is to be built in Shropshire.
The plant will be built by dairy giant Muller Wiseman in Market Drayton and will be the biggest butter plant in the UK. Production could start in the autumn.
Bosses will use the 90,000 tonnes of cream produced by the group across the UK each year to create up to 45,000 tonnes of butter.
Chief executive Ronald Kers announced the plans at the Semex dairy industry conference in Glasgow yesterday.
He said: "In the UK we are importing butter and failing to capitalise on export opportunities and the Muller Wiseman business has suffered as a result of the collapse in the global commodity cream market."
He added: "I am pleased to confirm that we are taking steps to ensure that we have the means by which we can start to manage our exposure to this market.
"We have taken the decision to invest £17 million to create the UK's largest butter plant at our dairy in Market Drayton€."
Bosses have remained tight-lipped about where exactly the plant will be built or how many jobs it will create.
North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "This is tremendous news, it is a brilliant example of adding value to milk and getting more out of one product."
He added: "This will not only create more jobs but consolidate the jobs that are there already."
Last year farmers staged a series of blockades outside Muller in Market Drayton, calling for fairer milk prices.
NFU dairy advisor Jeremy Lowe said: "News that Muller Wiseman is expanding is great news for the county and has the potential to be of great benefit to our dairy farmers. But it is vital the price is right as the business looks to secure additional milk supplies."
