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Cayuga Milk Ingredients plant expansion set for spring of 2023

Cayuga Milk Ingredients (CMI) announced it is planning an expansion project at its Auburn plant that seeks to “meet the demand for shelf-stable contract manufacturing demanded by the marketplace.” (PHOTO CREDIT: CAYUGA MILK INGREDIENTS)

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 […]

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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.

Eric Reinhardt