Ft. Wayne to Be Site of New Plant
For weeks, Indiana dairy officials had been confidently saying that an announcement was expected within weeks about a new milk processor coming to the Hoosier state. Last Friday, Ted McKinney, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, finally revealed the well-kept secret.
Walmart, the nation's largest grocer, is planning to build a large milk processing plant in Fort Wayne. The 250,000-square-foot facility will be located at 2322 W. Pleasant Center Rd, near the airport, with easy access to I-469 and the I-69 corridor. The new plant will supply white and chocolate milk to more than 600 Walmart stores and Sam's Club locations in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and northern Kentucky.
Walmart spokesman John Forrest Ales said the milk plant will be one of the largest in the industry, and it will be the retailer's first milk processing facility in the U.S. Construction will begin this summer; processing will commence by the end of next year. The plant will employ 200 workers.
In announcing the news, McKinney said Walmart chose Indiana because of a reliable milk supply in northern Indiana, the state's good transportation infrastructure, and its geographic location near major markets and population centers—all factors cited in the Indiana Dairy Strategy released a year ago. He added that the company did its homework, meeting with farmers and learning about the state dairy industry.
McKinney, who serves as the director of agribusiness development for the Indiana Economic Development Corp., said he was already familiar with Walmart following the company's 2015 decision to build a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center in Plainfield. According to McKinney, Walmart officials were aware that Indiana was looking to add dairy processing, so they approached McKinney about this latest project. While discussions had been ongoing for several months, the company's interest level increased dramatically over the past month.
Ales confirmed that Indiana's Dairy Strategy, which calls for attracting additional processing, was among several factors that played into Walmart's decision to choose Indiana. He added that the abundant supply of milk in northern Indiana created an opportunity for the company to enhance its "everyday low cost operating model."
According to the Indiana Dairy Strategy, Indiana ships 4 million pounds of milk each day to plants located outside the state.
Ales declined to say how much milk the new plant would process on a daily or annual basis. However, once finished the plant will be one of the largest in the nation, he said.
McKinney added that Walmart's entry into the milk processing business is great news for Indiana dairy farmers. First of all, he said the announcement shows that Indiana producers have a reputation for producing quality milk. Second, it's an example of a public-private partnership at work, in which state officials worked to connect dairy farmers, who are looking for a market for their product, with a giant food retailer, who is searching for a reliable supply.
Doug Leman, executive director of the Indiana Dairy Producers, said the milk will be processed as Class 1, which is the highest price level. Another benefit for farmers is reduced transportation costs.
Leman said he was both thankful and thrilled by the big news. He said Walmart's arrival on the scene will create new opportunities for farmers, and is proof that the Indiana Dairy Strategy is working.
Indiana currently has roughly 1,200 dairy farms that produced more than 4 billion pounds of milk last year. The state also has 21 dairy processing plants and 14 farmstead operations, helping the Hoosier state rank No. 14 in the nation in milk production and No. 2 in ice cream production.
Indiana has roughly 184,000 milk cows which can produce an average of 61 pounds of milk per day, accounting for nearly 2 percent of total U.S. milk production.