Missouri state and local officials recently gathered for a special ceremony to officially open Aurora Organic Dairy’s 127,000 sq. ft. milk production and storage facility. The plant is the company’s second milk bottling facility and is expected to create more than 100 new jobs in the local community by the year’s end.
“Aurora Organic Dairy is a great company that will ultimately bring more than 160 quality jobs to Missouri,” Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said. “Missouri’s central location and infrastructure network are two keys to attracting and retaining good businesses here in our state. We look forward to supporting their growth for years to come.”
Aurora is a leading producer and processor of retailer brand organic milk. The company is unique in that it operates dairy farms and milk bottling facilities, which helps ensure the highest quality and traceability of organic milk in the market. Aurora grows a portion of its own certified organic feed and pasture, raises and milks organic cows at eight farms and processes and packages milk at two locations: Columbia, Mo. and Platteville, Colo.
The new Columbia plant will help Aurora deliver more organic milk products with the variety and convenience today’s consumers want. Its state-of-the-art aseptic milk bottling line makes Aurora one of very few dairy plants in America to distribute shelf-stable organic milk products, the company said.
“Our company’s mission is to deliver high-quality organic milk with integrity to everyone, everywhere,” Aurora chief executive officer Scott McGinty said. “Products like these not only offer consumers more organic product choices, but they also help expand markets for organic milk producers. Innovation is rapidly changing the face of dairy beverages like never before, and organic milk is no exception.”
The facility will process and package an array of products, including milk in a variety of single-serve and shelf-stable (aseptic) bottles and value-added dairy products such as fortified and flavored milks and creamers. It will also process and package milk varieties like A2 production, organic grass fed, omega-3 fortified and lactose reduced as well as extended-shelf-life milk in half-gallon cartons.