The LacPatrick co-op is to invest €42 million at its Artigarvan plant in Co Tyrone in an expansion project that will dramatically increase its milk processing capacity.

The co-op, formed earlier this year when Northern Ireland’s oldest dairy, Ballyrashane Creamery in Coleraine merged with the Town of Monaghan Co-op, plans to upgrade the Tyrone plant by investing in advanced dairy processing technology.

LacPatrick’s Artigarvan facility currently has a daily processing capacity of one million litres of liquid milk, chiefly produced for global dairy markets, but it hopes to increase this capacity to 2.5 million litres once the investment project is complete.

As part of the €42 million expansion, the co-op expects to create 15 additional jobs and support 150 building jobs during the construction of a new 30,000 sq ft evaporation and spray drying facility designed to produce advance dairy ingredients for export markets.

According to the LacPatrick Group, it currently contributes around €170 million per year to the local agri-economy in the north west and it believes the new investment project will deliver a major return for farming families and the local communities they support.

Tommy Thompson, operations director, LacPatrick Group, said: “Our Artigarvan plant has been exporting high quality milk powders for decades to more than 30 countries worldwide.

“Our milk pool is growing rapidly and our members were keen we develop a sustainable and effective facility that will enable them to secure routes to primary export markets.

“We have already established a reputation of excellence and we see this as a real opportunity to push this out even further globally when the plant is up and running in 2017.”