Davisco Increases Production at Jerome Cheese Facility

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn, March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Davisco, Business Unit of Agropur Inc., announces completion of a significant increase in production capacity of Alpha-lactalbumin at the Jerome Cheese facility in Jerome, Idaho. The potential Alpha-lactalbumin volume from Jerome Cheese will be increasing tenfold. Davisco's unique product is isolated to over 90% Alpha-lactalbumin, the highest purity commercially available. The new isolation expansion of Alpha-lactalbumin is an engineering marvel that required a substantial capital investment to complete. Davisco's Alpha-lactalbumin has a strong worldwide demand because of the exceptional purity and the levels of the amino acid tryptophan, which is sought for use in nutritional beverages and infant formulas.

Davisco has always been driven by high quality and high purity, and to achieve these ambitious standards the expansion project team comprised a diverse team of experts, both internal and external who developed novel processing solutions. The Alpha-lactalbumin plant expansion is an industry-leading achievement of pioneering engineering and whey protein science expertise. Mike Klein, director of whey operations stated, "This proprietary alpha isolation process was developed, designed, scaled up and ultimately built by our internal R&D and engineers. The end result is a unique and functional commercial process that not only produces alpha at a purity and scale never seen before, but is also sustainable."

Davisco's Alpha-lactalbumin is isolated from bovine milk to the highest purity available worldwide. Davisco's Alpha-lactalbumin uses proprietary technical advancements developed by Davisco to precisely isolate alpha-lactalbumin in a full scale commercial production facility. Alpha-lactalbumin is the primary protein in human milk and is critical for infant nutrition. Alpha-lactalbumin is the richest source of natural tryptophan, the precursor to the neurotransmitter, serotonin.

"Davisco has always been on the cutting edge of protein separation technology in our Protein Technology Center in Le Sueur, MN, and to see the successful high volume commercialization of what has become our centerpiece product is very rewarding.  High-purity Alpha-lactalbumin will revolutionize our whey protein capability, allowing us to partner with customers in developing new products for the infant formula industry. This will naturally lead to our next generation of products, which are well on their way to commercialization," states Jon Davis president, Davisco Foods, Business Unit of Agropur Inc.

About Davisco (Business Unit of Agropur Inc.):
Davisco (www.daviscofoods.com) is a worldwide dairy global business headquartered in Le Sueur, Minnesota. Operating five dairy processing plants (cheese, whey and other dairy-based food ingredients) in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Idaho. Davisco makes 65 percent of the whey protein isolates sold worldwide.

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SOURCE Davisco

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