Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods, Russia's leading dairy and fruit juice producer, has continued its rapid expansion programme which has already seen it add a number of production facilities throughout Russia over the last year, the company announced last week.
The latest addition to the Moscow-based company's portfolio is the Burynsky Milk Powder Factory in Ukraine, in which WBD has taken a 76 per cent stake for $1.7 million (€1.71m).
Wimm-Bill-Dann said that it had acquired the company in order to gain access to the milk powder segment of the strategically important Ukrainian market. This, it said, would "ensure a steady supply of quality powdered and raw milk for our production facilities during seasonal drops in milk production."
The Burynsky factory was built in 1974, and later underwent renovation in 1985. The factory specialises in producing milk powder and is currently capable of processing 300 tons of milk daily and manufacturing 18 tons of butter and 9 tons of liquid dairy products per day. The factory presently employs 150 people.
Wimm-Bill-Dann owns 20 manufacturing facilities in 16 locations in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as affiliates in 26 cities in Russia and the CIS. The company also distributes its products in Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, the UK and the United States through both its own distribution network and independent distributors.