Clover Mulls Building South Africa's First Dairy Mega-Factory

Posted on : Wednesday, 23rd September 2015

Clover Industries Ltd. is considering building South Africa’s first dairy mega-factory to boost exports to the rest of the continent from a country that consumes about 98 percent of the milk it produces, potentially countering the need for future volume and price cuts.

The proposed plant will be built near Estcourt in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province for 890 million rand ($67 million) and will produce dairy products including milk powders and baby foods, Clover Chief Executive Officer Johann Vorster said by phone Wednesday. The facility will be the first of its kind on the continent, employing technology that will use the dairy efficiently, resulting in less wastage of byproducts, and will make dry milk-based lines that can last for as many as two years.