November 18, 2011

To meet the growing demand for dairy products in the south of the country, Danone-Unimilk is set to expand production at one of its plants.

By investing RUB2.2 billion (US$71.4 million) in the facility in Labinsk, Danone-Unimilk said it aims to supply of dairy products to meet increasing demand, especially with the Olympics in 2014. The site processes between 160 and 180 tonnes of milk per day.

"We are going to increase that to 250 tonnes in the future," a spokesperson for Danone said.

Milk, yoghurt and cottage cheese are produced at the plant, under Prostokvashino and Letniy Den brands. Baby food will also be produced in Labinsk plant.

Reconstruction of the plant in Labinsk started before the merge with Danone. As a result, the number of employees at the site has increased by 150 since 2009, to reach 484.

The spokesperson added that reconstruction is almost complete but did not provide a concrete date. The group owns over 30 manufacturing plants.