Darigold Buys Land Adjacent to Sunnyside Plant

Darigold officially purchased 26 acres of land just east of the company’s Sunnyside plant Wednesday.  A 23-acre parcel is next to the plant at Alexander and South McLean Roads.  Some of the land, which is zoned for industrial use, is within the City of Sunnyside, while the rest is in Yakima County.  A smaller parcel (3 acres) is located southwest of the larger parcel.

The exact plans for the property have not been determined.

Last year, Darigold completed an expansion of the Sunnyside plant, adding the ability to process 3.5 million more pounds of milk per day, an increase of 70%.

“We are considering possible uses for the land but have not yet finalized any future plans,” said Scott Burleson, Darigold operations senior vice president. “Our Sunnyside plant, the largest of our 11 manufacturing facilities, will continue to be key to the overall future success of Darigold. This purchase gives us room to grow, when that is necessary to better support our member-owners.”

Darigold’ s Sunnyside facility was built in 1991, and currently employees 180. Cheese, whey powder, whey protein concentrate powder and non-fat dry milk are currently produced at the Sunnyside plant.

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