=February 3,2023-
French dairy giant Lactalis acquired the Tulare Kraft cheese plant along Highway 99 in 2021 in a merger with Kraft. Now the new owners want to expand the facility and product offerings adding a new 38,300sf building that will produce and package Feta cheese. The company filed plans with the city this week. Lactalis is the world’s largest cheese maker.Construction is expected to start soon and be ready for use by December, says the company. It will operate on a 24/7 schedule.Some 22 new employees are expected to be hired.
Feta Cheese is a pickled curd cheese with a salty and tangy taste due to its coupling with brine solution. Popular in Greek cooking the product has taken off in the US (like Greek yogurt) and now is expanding rapidly now due to increased use in the fast food industry.In comparison with other cheeses, Feta is a low fat variety often used on salads and Mediterranean dishes.In Europe and elsewhere feta cheese is often a blend of cows milk goat or sheep milk. Here it will be just cow’s milk.
As best we know,this will be the first large commercial production of feta cheese in California other than boutique and artisanal makers.
In 2021 before the acquisition of Kraft by Lactalis, the Department of Justice announced that they would require Lactalis and the Kraft Heinz Company divest Kraft Heinz’s Athenos and Polly-O businesses.They did that. Athenos is the top selling brand in the US. Now Athenos is owned by a Swiss-based The Emmi Group.
The Lactalis acquisition included approximately 750 employees and three production facilities located in Tulare, Calif., Walton, N.Y. and Wausau, Wisc. The Kraft/Lactalis plant in Tulare currently employs around 250.In Tulare they make mozzarella and parmesan varieties and now feta.
Lactalis now markets its brands of Feta cheese under various labels including big seller President.
A recent report says “The global feta cheese market size was valued at $10.5 billion in 2019, and is anticipated to reach $15.6 billion by 2028, with a CAGR of 5.7% during the forecast period. The market is expected to exhibit an incremental revenue opportunity of $5.0 billion from 2019 to 2028.”