Hilmar Cheese Company Inc. has announced plans to increase cheese capacity and add 500-pound barrel production at the Dalhart, Texas, manufacturing site. The company currently processes cheese into 40-pound blocks and 640-pound blocks.
“We are expanding to meet our customers’ growing demand for our products,” explains David Ahlem, chief operating officer of the company. “Both global and domestic cheese consumption continues to increase.”
Hilmar Cheese Company has continually grown the Texas facility. It was built from a green-field site in 2005. The company began processing cheese in September 2007.
In 2010, the facility almost doubled capacity. This included additional milk storage, four additional milk receiving bays and expansion to the cheese production line. On the whey processing side, additional equipment enhanced the whey protein product offering.
In 2012, improvements included additional water conservation and recycling capabilities to further enhance sustainability efforts.
In 2014, the company added new capabilities to an existing 40-pound block cheese production line.
This new expansion will increase production capacity by 20 percent when completed in 2016. It will also provide flexibility for cheese packaging to better meet customer needs.
“Texas continues to be a great place to invest in cheese processing, with plenty of available milk and a very stable regulated milk pricing environment,” concludes Ahlem. PD
—From Hilmar Cheese Company Inc. news release
