GLANBIA, the Kilkenny-based food group, is planning to open a manufacturing plant in China next year to produce specialist ingredients for customers. John Moloney, the company’s managing director, said it would invest about $10m in the new facility, which is likely to be located near Shanghai where it already has a sales and marketing office, writes Ciaran Hancock.

“We’ve been selling specialist whey ingredients into China for the past five to six years,” he said. “So we’ll look to develop that further over the coming year in terms of an enhanced capability on the ground, including some manufacturing activity.

“Opening in China would give us a global reach in nutritionals.”

Glanbia has a five-person team in Shanghai that sells products from its nutritionals division in America and some pork. The office generates sales of about $15m (€12m) a year, Moloney said.

The plant, which is likely to employ about 30 staff, will focus on whey-based nutritional products. Whey is a by-product of cheese and high in protein. It is used in a range of health products, nutritional supplements and functional foods — those that are promoted as providing a health benefit beyond basic nutrition.