Manufacturing & Supply Chain

72 jobs are at risk in Lakeland Diaries Banbridge facility.

The Cavan headquartered company is to alter production schedules at its Down facility.

Lakeland Dairies has confirmed it intends to switch production at Banbridge to a “seasonal processing schedule from September onwards”.

A spokesperson said Lakeland Dairies is consulting with staff at Banbridge on the implementation of these changes and will seek to minimise the impact of this development as much as possible.

The Cavan based co-op acquired the Banbridge plant in May from Fane Valley Dairies.

A spokesman for Lakeland Dairies said on Thursday that the group’s decision to move to seasonal processing was not uncommon in the dairy industry.

Lakeland already operate a similar approach at its milk powder plant in Lough Egish, Co Monaghan, and a Casein plant in Killeshandra, Co Cavan.

The spokesman added: “Lakeland Dairies processes over 1 billion litres of milk annually and it needs to allocate this milk as flexibly and profitably as possible to different sites and into different product areas which are in the highest market demand, to yield the highest milk price at different times throughout the year.”