Dairy firm expands milk processing with mobile yoghurt plant

To enhance production and local processing of milk, FrieslandCampina has said it is strengthening local dairy production in Nigeria by building a mobile yoghurt plant.

The firm said the plant will enable the company to process milk from local dairy farmers into long-life yoghurt drinks, adding that the project is part of the Dairy Development Programme that supports local farmers to increase their milk production, improve the quality of the milk and offer them access to the market.

The project is also expected to contribute to stronger value chains, a stronger economy and good nutrition for the local population.
Corporate Director Dairy Development and Milk Streams at FrieslandCampina, Jeroen Elfers, explained that, “With this mobile dairy plant, we help thousands of local Nigerian farmers by ensuring the sales of their milk and, consequently, their income. We are also creating jobs and providing the population with nutritious and affordable dairy products. In this way, we are cooperating with the Nigerian government in providing food for the rapidly growing population.”

The plant consists of five interlinked containers and was built by Scherjon Dairy Equipment and Onesto Construction in Surhuisterveen and Drachten (Netherlands) respectively.

The firm noted that the five 40 ft containers will soon be shipped to Nigeria, adding that as soon as the containers arrive at their destination, they will be interlinked, and the yoghurt production can be started.

Milk from local dairy farmers is used for the yoghurt. With this mobile yoghurt plant, FrieslandCampina extends its processing capacity in Nigeria.

The new yoghurt plant, expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2022, according to the firm, will start with the processing of 1.8 million kilograms of milk and can produce more than 18 million pouches of drinking yoghurt yearly.