Milk Specialties Global acquires Kay’s Processing, Inc.

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MSG plans to expand operations at Clara City to meet demand for extruded protein products, which are used for a wide variety of applications ranging from snacks to meat alternatives. Pic: Getty images/GMVozd

Milk Specialties Global (MSG), a US manufacturer of nutritional ingredients for the health and wellness, performance nutrition and functional food industries, has acquired the 96,000-square-foot, gluten-free certified Kay’s Processing facility, located in Clara City, Minnesota, along with the Kay’s Naturals consumer brand.

MSG said it plans to expand operations at the Clara City facility to accommodate demand for extruded protein products, which are used for a wide variety of applications ranging from snacks to meat alternatives. To ensure business continuity, the facility’s current employees have received offers to remain with the facility, and additional jobs will be created in the future to support production expansions.

“There is a lot of potential to ramp up production and increase capacity at our new Clara City facility, including more co-manufacturing,” said MSG vice president of extrusion technology and strategy Jim Fischer.

“This acquisition will expand our extruded protein capabilities and help us better meet the needs of our customers.”

The Clara City plant is part of MSG’s long-term expansion strategy. The newly named Milk Specialties Global Clara City Facility is MSG’s 11th plant, and the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions and expansions that began in 2008.

Most recently, in 2020, the company doubled its lactose production following expansion of its west coast processing facility in Visalia, CA. Earlier this year, MSG completed a capital improvement project at its Fond Du Lac, WI, facility to begin production of lactoferrin, signaling the launch of its NutriPRO line of products focusing on whey protein.