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Darigold Establishes Pasco, Washington, Milk Protein-Butter Plant

07/27/2021
Darigold, Inc. will invest roughly $500 million in building a new premium protein and butter operation near Pasco, Washington. The 400,000-square-foot specialized milk protein and butter plant will process approximately eight million pounds of milk a day.

Construction of the facility and the Port of Pasco agreement are contingent upon fair and equitable treatment under all new Washington state environmental legislation, which the company is currently assessing, company officials noted. Initial site development is expected to start in early 2022 with full commercial production targeted for late 2023 or early 2024.

“Our producers have been at the vanguard of the dairy sector for over 100 years, constantly building on their outstanding record of sustainability and stewardship practices,” said Stan Ryan, President and CEO of Darigold. “They are proud to boost the co-op’s competitiveness with this future-forward investment in a next-generation dairy facility, preserving the legacy of nearly 350 multigenerational farms.”

Darigold noted it will deploy anaerobic digestion technology as part of the on-site wastewater treatment strategy and use the extracted methane as a natural gas substitute, reducing fossil fuel use. This will be complemented by best-in-class machinery that enables heat and energy recovery and reuse. In addition, the new infrastructure is designed to accommodate future electric vehicles, including a potential conversion of our large fleet of semi-trucks, further reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation.

Darigold’s new operation furthers the cooperative’s advancement of its environmental, social and governance commitment. Situated within the multimodal Port of Pasco on the Columbia River, it will have access to both rail and barge facilities and will slash the distance trucks travel for milk pickups and deliveries by 5 million miles annually.

“We are thrilled to welcome Darigold to Pasco and the Reimann as the anchor tenant in the Port’s largest industrial park. It’s incredibly rare to attract a project of this size and scope,” said Randy Hayden, the Port of Pasco’s Executive Director. “Darigold’s state-of-the-art facility will use the latest technology, serve as a model of sustainability, and create a new market for our region’s ag producers.”

Headquartered in Seattle, Darigold, Inc. is the marketing and processing subsidiary of Northwest Dairy Association, which is owned by nearly 350 dairy farm families in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Darigold handles approximately 10 billion pounds of milk annually. The company produces a full line of dairy-based products for retail, foodservice, commodity and specialty markets, and is one of the largest U.S. dairy processors. Darigold, Inc. operates 11 plants throughout the Northwest, processing high-quality milk produced by NDA farm families.

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