AUBURN, N.Y. — Cayuga Milk Ingredients (CMI) is calling it a “new venture,” preparing to expand its Auburn facility for bottling capabilities next spring. Construction on the project has an estimated cost of $145 million, Neil Rejman, CMI board chairman, tells CNYBJ in an email. In all, the plant expansion is expected to create 70 […]
AUBURN, N.Y. — Cayuga Milk Ingredients (CMI) is calling it a “new venture,” preparing to expand its Auburn facility for bottling capabilities next spring.
Construction on the project has an estimated cost of $145 million, Neil Rejman, CMI board chairman, tells CNYBJ in an email.
In all, the plant expansion is expected to create 70 full-time positions, in addition to construction jobs and retention of the current staff of 91.
The expansion will help “meet the demand for shelf-stable contract manufacturing demanded by the marketplace,” the company said.
The project — a 130,000-square-foot addition on Eagle Drive in Auburn — is in its final engineering phase. It’ll add an aseptic processor, bottling, and packaging line, allowing CMI to produce finished products for the extended shelf-life beverage market.
Aseptic processing utilizes sterilization equipment to produce “safe, shelf-stable, healthy food for the community,” CMI said
Additional improvements will include expanded wastewater-treatment facilities, developing stormwater retention, trucking and parking enrichments, and utility upgrades, the company added.
The high-speed bottling line will have the ability to produce up to 150,000 gallons of milk-based drinks per day. Products will be palletized and then stored onsite in a warehouse using automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) technology.
Established in 2014, Cayuga Milk Ingredients is a farmer-owned company that processes milk from 30 family-owned dairy farms within the Finger Lakes region.
