Hilmar Cheese Breaks Ground on Kansas Plant

Oct. 11, 2022

The facility will be the third for the private label/contract manufacturing company.

Hilmar Cheese Co. has broken ground on its third processing plant, a cheese and whey facility to be built in Dodge City, Kansas.

The $600 million plant will incorporate green principles, including: instruments and controls that will minimize water and energy use; further use of rinse water and other recycled water; and landscaping with native, drought-tolerant plants.

“This community has a local and skilled labor force, a supportive and expanding agricultural region, and an excellent transportation network,” Hilmar CEO David Ahlem said in a statement. “It is a great location to invest in the future.”

The company did not give a date when the plant is expected to come online.

Hilmar ranked 61st on the Food Processing Top 100 list this year, with estimated sales last year of $2.2 billion. The company makes a variety of cheeses and cheese products for private label and ingredients, and as a branded co-manufacturer. It has plants in California and Texas.

About the Author

Pan Demetrakakes | Senior Editor

Pan has written about the food and beverage industry for more than 25 years. His areas of coverage have included formulations, processing, packaging, marketing and retailing. Pan worked for Food Processing Magazine for six years in the 1990s, where he was operations editor (his current role), touring dozens of food plants of every description. He has also worked for Packaging and Food & Beverage Packaging magazines, the latter as chief editor, during which he won three ASBPE awards. He is a graduate of Stanford University with a BA in communications.