Today at the Alberta Milk Dairy Conference, the western provinces announced that a new dairy concentration facility, Dairy Innovation West (DIW), will be built in Alberta. DIW will be owned by the Western Milk Pool members and will be operated by Vitalus Nutrition Inc.
DIW is a state-of-the-art facility which is the first of its kind in Canada. The technology will remove water from raw milk that will create concentrated components required by dairy processors to be used in a variety of dairy products. The facility will have the capacity to accommodate up to 300 million litres of milk per year.
Going Green
A priority of this facility is to reduce the environmental impacts of transporting milk across the four western provinces. DIW will reduce trucking emissions by 50 per cent by reducing the volume. Currently, milk moves within the western provinces to ensure the industry is meeting the needs of Canadians and that dairy processing is being utilized to its full capacity.
“Instead of two trucks on the road, there would only be one,” says Alberta Milk Chairman Tom Kootstra. “Dairy farmers are always seeking more opportunities to work smarter and continue to be stewards of the land.”
Additionally, DIW promises to increase jobs and boost economic contributions in Alberta. This 20-acre site is large enough for future expansion and long-term growth in the anticipation of attracting additional processors to the site.
“We are very excited about this new partnership and are looking forward to getting shovels in the ground this spring,” said Henry Holtmann, chairman of the WMP. “This is good news for dairy farmers, dairy processors, and the economy in Western Canada,” he continues.
Construction on the facility is set to begin in April 2020 and be completed by March 2021. The facility will be located in central Alberta near Red Deer.
About Alberta Milk
Alberta Milk is a non-profit organization that represents Alberta’s dairy producers.
About the Western Milk Pool
The Western Milk Pool (WMP) is an association of producers of the four western Canadian provinces through the BC Marketing Board, Alberta Milk, SaskMilk, and Dairy Farmers of Manitoba. They represent about 25 per cent of the milk produced in Canada.
