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New cheese plant approved for Central Valley
Bakersfield
January 24, 2008 1:13PM
Blue Ribbon Cheese Company LLC of Bakersfield says it has received approval from the Fresno County Planning Commission for construction of a state-of-the-art cheese plant in western Fresno County. “The $300 million facility is expected to begin operations in 2010 and employ 300 local residents,” Blue Ribbon Cheese president, David Albers says.
The approval clears the way for construction to begin later this year on the 435,000 square-foot plant where BRCC will produce a variety of American and Italian style cheeses including cheddar, jack, mozzarella and provolone. The plant will be located on an 800-acre site on Elkhorn Avenue between state highways 41 and 145. Production will include 6.8 million pounds of milk daily, which will be purchased from existing local dairies, the company says.
Blue Ribbon customers will include international pizza chains, franchise restaurants and institutional food service companies, the company says. “We are grateful for the planning commission’s approval which we view as a strong vote of confidence in our plan to bring hundreds of new, full-time jobs to rural Fresno County,” says Mr. Albers said.
Mr. Albers, a third-generation dairyman who owns and operates Vintage Dairy, which is also located on Elkhorn Avenue, says BRCC’s operations will provide indirect support for another 300 jobs among its network of service vendors and suppliers.
Blue Ribbon Cheese Company is a subsidiary of American Dairy Parks. In addition to Blue Ribbon and Vintage Dairy, ADP includes BioEnergy Solutions, a Bakersfield company whose first-in-the-state biogas injection project is expected to begin production of renewable natural gas for Pacific Gas and Electric Company in early March.
Source: Reprint from http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/
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