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Lactalis Starts $55 Million Expansion in Tulare, California

Oct. 29, 2024

The French company’s advanced U.S. plant will get a 38,000-sq.-ft. expansion to increase feta production.

Lactalis USA is spending $55 million on its Tulare, Calif., facility to “significantly increase” its capacity for Président Feta cheese. When complete, it will be Lactalis’ largest feta production line in the U.S.

The new, 38,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing line will create 20 full-time positions in Tulare. Part of the expansion already is underway, with full completion scheduled for 2027. Lactalis also makes feta in Belmont, Wis.

The Tulare plant is one of the most advanced of Lactalis’ 11 manufacturing facilities across the U.S., the company says. The new line is outfitted based on a complete 3D ergonomic analysis to support worker well-being and safety, in addition to automated air flow control and in-line production. Lactalis USA also produces Kraft Parmesan, Knudsen Cottage Cheese and Sour Cream, and Kraft sweet whey powder.

Lactalis Group, based in France, claims to be the world’s largest dairy company. In addition to some small acquisitions since 2011 and the 2021 buy of Kraft’s cheese business for $3 billion, it’s in the process of buying Yoplait and the General Mills yogurt business in the U.S.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.