Müller completes Bellshill fresh milk dairy upgrade

UK-based milk supplier and distributor Müller Milk and Ingredients has completed the upgrade of its fresh milk dairy in Bellshill, with an investment of £15m.

The company noted that the investment would further enable its Bellshill dairy to process more than 370 million litres of fresh milk and cream each year.

Müller’s Bellshill dairy project includes the acquisition of adjacent bottle manufacturing facility and installation of six additional raw and finished milk tanks in order to increase storage space.

The investment was also used for creating a new filling hall to make cream products, an addition of two fresh milk production lines, as well as installation of energy-efficient cooling systems and an expanded chill space to increase the storage capacity for finished products.

The investment is expected to create 265 new employment opportunities at the facility.

Müller Milk and Ingredients CEO Patrick Müller said: “Fresh milk deserves to be celebrated. It’s a fantastic, healthy natural product and an essential part of British life.

“Milk from our Bellshill dairy is sourced from local farmers who shape our landscape and our environment. It’s in fridges less than two days after leaving farms because of our investment in processing and logistics infrastructure.

“We are unique in Scotland in that our 100% recyclable packaging is not shipped in from miles away. It’s manufactured in an adjacent site before being directly passed to our filling lines.”

The dairy project is reported to be part of Müller’s plan to create a profitable, progressive and efficient fresh milk business in Britain using new capabilities to make the next generation of fresh milk, cream and flavoured milk products.

Bellshill is reported to be the only Scottish dairy facility to manufacture lightweight and 100% recyclable milk bottles on site.