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Piracanjuba announces investment of R$499 million to build a new whey protein and dairy factory, expected to create hundreds of new jobs

Written by Valdemar Medeiros
Published 17/01/2025 às 10:01
Piracanjuba announces investment of R$499 million to build new factory
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Piracanjuba announces new whey protein and dairy factory in Paraná that promises to generate 250 jobs. Check out the differences of Piracanjuba's new factory in Brazil.

The Piracanjuba Group has taken an important step in the dairy and supplement market. With R$499 million in financing from BNDES, the company will build its new whey protein and dairy factory in São Jorge d'Oeste, Paraná. The total investment in the new Piracanjuba factory is R$612 million.

Understand the initiative of the new whey protein and dairy factory

The movement of the new Piracanjuba factory is strategic. Currently, around 85% of whey protein consumed in Brazil is imported, according to government data. With the new unit, the company seeks to fill this gap and ride the wave of the sports supplements market, which had revenues of R$4,3 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach R$9,5 billion in 2028, according to Euromonitor.

With resources from the BNDES Mais Inovação Program (R$277 million) and R$222 million via FINEM (Incentivized Line B), the new whey protein and dairy factory will have an installed production capacity of up to 39,4 thousand tons per year of mozzarella and up to 7,9 thousand tons per year of butter.

In two attached production lines, using whey, an effluent from cheese production, the company will produce up to 6 thousand tons of whey protein (protein concentrates and isolates) and up to 14,8 thousand tons of lactose powder per year.

Whey protein and lactose powder have a wide range of applications, with use in nutrition (supplementary and hospital nutrition), in pharmaceutical products and cosmetics, among others, in addition to adding great value to the national dairy chain, a segment in which Brazil occupies the third position as the largest global milk producer.

New Piracanjuba factory promises to generate 250 new jobs

The construction of two plants in the same whey protein and dairy factory (the production of mozzarella cheese and butter in the first stage and the production of whey protein and lactose powder in the second) brings significant economies of scale and is in line with international models (United States and Europe), in addition to having a large decarbonization footprint due to the absence of transport of whey between different manufacturing plants.

The new Piracanjuba factory is the first large-scale cheese factory in the country whose production of cheese, concentrates, whey protein isolates in powder form and lactose in powder form is already planned and integrated in the same industrial park.

According to the president of BNDES, Aloizio Mercadante, the approval of the new whey protein and dairy factory represents the expansion of Brazil's technological frontier, with the nationalization of production and industrial systems, in addition to contributing to the replacement of imports of products that amount to US$ 54 million in the Brazilian trade balance.

The construction of the unit will result in the creation of 250 new direct jobs in the region, with an impact on the generation of family income.

New Piracanjuba factory will bring cutting-edge technology and modern equipment

According to Luiz Claudio Lorenzo, president of Grupo Piracanjuba, the company sought financing from BNDES to leverage new technologies in the dairy industry and, in this way, sustain the company's growth in the coming years.

The executive highlights that the unit will bring high technology, with modern equipment and high capacity, which will contribute to the standardization and quality of products and operational efficiency, guided by a sustainable perspective, treatment and reuse of water and production and use of biogas as a source of energy. Furthermore, the employment opportunities provided generate income for the local economy.

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Valdemar Medeiros

Journalist in training, specialist in creating content with a focus on SEO actions. Writes about the Automotive Industry, Renewable Energy and Science and Technology

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