Associated Milk Producers Inc.’s (AMPI) cheese plant in Sanborn, Iowa, recently installed new technology and equipment.
Eight new vats have been in added to the facility.
“We are pleased with the performance of the new vats and the new space,” says AMPI Vice President of Technical Services Wayne Jorgenson. “This investment makes it possible for a talented team to make even more sought-after AMPI cheese.”
Improvements to the technology will increase efficiency of the cheese making process, helping utilize all the milk that goes through the plant. The upgrades also mean more varieties of cheese will be made including: Monterey Jack, Colby and Marble Jack.
Further renovations are planned for the whey processing and storage area of the plant and are expected to be finalized by March.
When all the improvements are finished the plant will more than double processing capacity. The daily cheese production is estimated to reach 300,000 lb.
“The cooperative’s new business plan is focused on updating cheese-making technology and increasing capacity,” says Steve Schlangen, an Albany, Minn., dairy farmer and chairman of the AMPI Board of Directors. “The Sanborn project marks an important first step in seeing that plan come to life. It cements our place in the community as a long-term employer and provides the capacity to process the milk produced on area member farms.”
AMPI is a farmer owned cooperative with members in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. In 2016, AMPI members marketed 5.5 billion lb. of milk, resulting in $1.6 billion in sales. The cooperative has 10 processing plants in the Midwest.