RNS Number:1233U
Glanbia PLC
12 January 2004



Work begins on new $190m USA cheese and whey products facility being built by
Glanbia in Joint Venture with DFA and Select.


Glanbia plc is pleased to announce commencement of construction following the
recent creation of Southwest Cheese Company LLC ("Southwest"), a joint venture
between Glanbia, Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. ("DFA"), Select Milk Producers
Inc. ("Select"), and the other dairy cooperative members of the Greater
Southwest Agency, Inc.  The venture is 50% owned by Glanbia with the balance
primarily owned by DFA and Select.  Southwest has recently awarded contracts to
Dahlgren / Skanska and Carlisle Process Systems to begin construction of a $190
million cheese and whey manufacturing facility to be located in Clovis, New
Mexico.


Commissioning of the new facility is expected in the 4th Quarter of 2005.  Once
fully operational, it is anticipated that the new facility will generate sales
in the region of $350 million per annum and will employ approximately 220 staff.
Milk for the facility will be supplied by the dairy cooperative members of the
Greater Southwest Agency (DFA, Select, Lone Star and Zia). Glanbia Foods, Inc.,
headquartered in Twin Falls, Idaho, will provide operational management for the
facility in addition to handling all cheese sales, while Glanbia Nutritionals,
out of its U.S.A. office based in Monroe, Wisconsin will market the nutritional
ingredients derived from the whey stream.


Once fully commissioned, the new facility will be one of the largest and most
efficient plants in the world, annually processing over 2.4 billion pounds of
milk and produce in excess of 250 million pounds of cheese and 16.5 million
pounds of high value-added whey proteins.


Commenting on the announcement, David Thomas, CEO of Glanbia Foods, Inc., said,
"Our customers have been very involved with us in the planning and development
of this new facility and are particularly excited about our expansion of natural
cheddar cheese in the 640 pound block format. This project will allow us to meet
a growing demand for high quality natural cheese by partnering with DFA and
Select who have access to a growing, highly efficient milk supply base in the
Southwest."


Gary Hanman, CEO of DFA, added, "This is an exciting project for all of the
dairy farmers who market their milk through the Greater Southwest Agency.
Through this partnership, we are creating an important new market for milk in a
region of the U.S. where milk production has seen rapid growth.  DFA is pleased
to have joined forces with Glanbia - a dairy processor with a reputation for
developing and operating large scale, efficient facilities.  The goal, here, is
to  maximize market opportunities for the benefit of all our stakeholders."


Mike McCloskey, CEO of Select added, "As a co-op comprising large scale dairy
producers in the Southwest region of the USA, we are looking forward to
extending our relationship with DFA and joining with Glanbia in developing what
will be one of the most modern and efficient facilities of its kind in the
world. This is a major project which will greatly benefit all milk producers in
the region."


Maurice Keane, President of Southwest Cheese Company, commented. "A lot of
effort has gone into getting this project off the ground. Now the focus of our
dedicated project and operations team will be to ensure that this state of the
art plant is delivered as planned."



ENDS

12 January 2004



Issued by:            Corporate Communications, Glanbia plc



Enquiries to:

Siobhan Talbot, Group Corporate Affairs Director, 
Glanbia plc   Tel: 00 353 56 7772245

Tom Byrne, Murray Consultants, Tel: 00 353 1 4980300



Additional Information:


Glanbia plc is an international cheese, nutritional ingredients and consumer
foods company with operations in the USA, Ireland and the UK.  It is the largest
dairy processor in Idaho, USA, and is a global player in advanced technology
dairy-based nutritional ingredients. Headquartered in Kilkenny, Ireland, the
Group had sales in 2002 of Euro2.3 billion.


Dairy Farmers of America, Inc., headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is the
largest dairy co-operative in the United States and the largest marketer of
fluid milk in the world.  During 2002, DFA marketed 47.8 billion pounds of milk,
constituting 28.2% of total US milk production. In addition the company operates
27 manufacturing plants that produce a wide range of dairy products. 2002 sales
amounted to $6.4 billion.


Select Milk Producers Inc. was formed in 1994 by a group of large dairy
producers in New Mexico. The majority of members are located in the New Mexico /
West Texas region which is the fastest growing milk producing region in the USA.
The group supplies a range of America's leading food manufacturers with
quality fluid milk, both natural and concentrated, for further processing. In
2002 Select sold 3 billion pounds of milk with a value of $400 million.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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