The small to medium-sized enterprise, which is based in Bangor, Northern Ireland, hopes the factory would help boost production and grow sales in international markets.
“As the only yoghurt manufacturer in Northern Ireland, our mission is to grow Clandeboye Yoghurt as sustainably as possible and to maintain the high quality of our natural yoghurt offering," said Bryan Boggs, general manager of Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt.
"Everything from grazing to production takes place within the Clandeboye Estate, with milk sourced from the Clandeboye herd and local producers – a complete farm to spoon journey.
'Increase export sales'
“Over the last 12 years, Invest NI’s ongoing guidance has been invaluable to the growth of our company. Its support is enabling us to build a new factory and invest in specialist machinery. This will give us the capacity to produce up to 80 tonnes of yoghurt per week, over four times what we normally produce. All of this combined will help us to increase our export sales and expand in the GB market.”
John Hood, director of food and drink at Invest Northern Ireland, said: “Over the last 12 years, Clandeboye Estate has built its farm based artisan yoghurt brand into a premium offering.
"Our support over the years has helped it to grow in the Republic of Ireland and now GB, with major retailers such as Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda stocking its products. We are delighted to continue to support Clandeboye with this new investment, which will assist it to quadruple its production capacity and double its workforce in the Ards & North Down area.
'Food and drink companies generated over £5bn'
“Last year, food and drink companies generated over £5bn for the Northern Ireland economy. The sector has remained resilient throughout COVID-19 and it continues to be a major contributor to our local economy. It is great to see companies like Clandeboye focusing on innovation to remain competitive and continuing to expand and invest.”
Invest NI has offered the company £470,000 support towards the new factory and machinery. The support towards the expansion would also enable the company to expand its team with an additional 13 jobs across a range of production and management roles, according to Invest NI.
The project is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.