Ornua, formerly known as the Irish Dairy Board, has opened a €20m cheese making facility in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.
The new facility will make white cheeses for sale in Saudi itself, the fifth largest dairy importer in the world, and will use new technology developed by Ornua and Teagasc
Ornua said the new plant will provide a base from which to export to other fast-growing regions in the Middle East and Africa.
The company noted that the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region offers significant opportunity for export growth for Irish dairy produce.
Due to its climate and scarcity of water, Saudi Arabia is a large net importer of milk and other dairy produce, buying in 400,000 tonnes of dairy produce per year. Dairy sales are growing by 6-8% a year and the cheese market is valued at over €1 billion a year.
Ornua's CEO Kevin Lane said that the opening of the Al Wazeen facility is strategically very important to Ornua as it provides the business with a new route to market for Irish dairy.
"We now have a manufacturing and trading hub in place to service the high growth dairy market of Saudi Arabia and our growing MENA customer base. The ability to innovate and adapt to market needs is key to developing opportunities for Irish dairy," Mr Lane stated.
He said that Ornua's partnership with Teagasc is a great example of how innovative dairy technologies can create new ways of producing dairy products for global markets.
