For immediate release
August 21, 2023
British Columbia – Construction of Dairy Innovation West (DIW) is getting underway. All required financing and construction approvals are in place, clearing the way for work to get started on the ground.
This $67-million milk concentration plant will be the first of its kind in Canada. Similar plants have been built in other countries and the technology is proven, but this is the first time it will be done here. It is being built in central Alberta – in Blackfalds, near Red Deer. The region has a wealth of dairy farms but lacks sufficient processing capacity, making it necessary to ship raw milk to processors as far away as Abbotsford, BC. DIW will concentrate local raw milk – for every three or four trucks of raw milk coming in from local farms one truck of concentrate will leave for a processing plant, where it will be made into cheese, butter, skim milk powder, and other dairy products.
Having fewer trucks on the road will result in significant transportation cost savings, as well as a reduction in the associated environmental footprint.
DIW is driven by the Western Milk Pool and its vision of the provinces of BC, AB, SK and MB working closely to become ‘better together for Canadian dairy.’ Innovative projects of the magnitude of DIW are only possible through the scale provided by collaboration across provinces, and will provide significant benefits to producers. The dairy organizations in all four western provinces will co-own DIW.
Construction is expected to take 18 – 24 months.
Media Contact:
Shawn Hall
Western Milk Pool
shawn@apogeepr.ca
604-619-7913