Volac’s equipment from Kells plant up for auction

In 2018 Volac, with the support of Enterprise Ireland, announced a €3.3m investment in a new purpose-built finishing and packing facility for its range of milk replacer products near Kells, Co Meath.

At the time, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Heather Humphreys said it would lead to the creation of 16 new jobs. The company said that the investment reflected its confidence in the growing demand for milk replacer in both Irish and export markets.

Fast forward five years to December 2023 and Volac, headquartered in Wales, announced that it would be closing the Kells facility as it intended to consolidate production at its UK manufacturing site.

Only days after that announcement was made, Volac said it had sold its milk replacer business to Dutch company Denkavit Group. The company will continue to produce its range of milk replacers, including the triple-A Golden Maverick brand for the Irish and UK market at its manufacturing facility in Felinfach, Wales in partnership with Denkavit.

Meanwhile, the fixtures and fittings of the Kells plant, including bagging, handling, filtering and packing machines are being auctioned this month by tender by Moody Auctions, a specialist company in the dairy, food and beverage machine sector. Interested bidders have until October 28 to log on to the company’s website and submit a bid for any of the range of equipment on offer.