The Dutch dairy multinational Royal A-Ware will increase its investment to reopen the former Danone factory in Salas from the initially planned €40 million to around €60 million, as announced yesterday by the company’s CFO, Antonio Rodríguez, after meeting with the Minister of Rural Affairs of the Principality, Marcelino Marcos. The company has already hired a dozen of the 82 workers the plant will have when it begins producing mozzarella cheese pearls in April 2025. This workforce will also be larger than initially proposed, as the former factory employed 70 professionals.
At present, Rodríguez explained, the Dutch company is dismantling the previous Danone equipment and in “two or three weeks” will begin installing the new machinery to produce mozzarella. The goal is to manufacture between 20,000 and 25,000 tons of cheese per year for the Spanish and international markets under private labels, which is the multinational’s area of expertise. It will be the group’s second factory to produce mozzarella, alongside one in the Netherlands, and the company does not rule out producing other dairy products in Salas in the future.
The Salas factory will require around 150 million liters of milk per year, which will come mainly from Asturian farmers and, to a lesser extent, from Galicia and Cantabria. The company will begin formalizing contracts with local producers starting in September.
Throughout this process, Royal A-Ware is receiving advice from the Asturian engineering firm Impulso, whose CEO, Jorge Suárez, and General Manager, Francisco Cuervo, also attended yesterday’s meeting.
The leader of the Principality took advantage of the meeting to welcome Royal A-Ware’s investment, which he considered “very important for an area that needs a boost like this.” “Anything that contributes to improving the profitability of farmers and increasing the price of milk is welcome,” Marcos noted, later clarifying that “it will be the company that determines the prices it offers.”
A-Ware Asturias, the name of the subsidiary created by the multinational to carry out this project, has already been granted nearly three million euros in aid from the Institute for Just Transition for the installation of new machinery. Furthermore, Marcos reported yesterday that the company will apply for the grants announced by his Ministry for the production and marketing of agricultural products, which have a total budget of eight million euros.
The renovation in Salas includes the removal of the “Danonino” statue that stood at the factory entrance, as the drinkable yogurt of the same name was produced there, among other products. However, the authorities in Salas are looking for a new location for it in the town.
31/01/2024
