The first privately-owned Chinese facility which will pack and ship finished infant formula to large cities in China opened in Carrickmacross this week. Newbaze, based in Shanghai and owned by two brothers Yu Shirong and Yo Shion, acquired the old Bose facility for €1.8m and has invested €20m in the new plant with financial support from Enterprise Ireland.

Raw materials will be sourced from Kerry Group. However, other Irish milk processors can also supply. The plant has a capacity of 7,000t of formula per year. The product will trade as IreLiffey.

Three of the world’s largest producers of infant formula – Danone, Abbott and Nestlé – have manufacturing facilities in Ireland, sourcing dairy ingredients directly from Irish dairy processors.

Some 250,000t of infant formula is produced in Ireland each year with 40,000t exported to China. Overall, imports of infant formula to China have more than doubled since 2014 and last year were in the range of 330,000t.