Continental Dairy Facilities
Continental Dairy has added butter and buttermilk powder production as part of a $50 million expansion.

COOPERSVILLE, MICH. — Continental Dairy Facilities, L.L.C. has added butter and buttermilk powder production as part of a $50 million expansion, which also resulted in 10 new full-time jobs, the company said.

Steve Cooper, Continental Dairy
Steve Cooper, Select Milk Producers president and general manager of Dairy Manufacturing Operations

“We have experienced astonishing success at Continental Dairy over the past four years and it only makes sense that we are adding butter to our list of ingredients,” said Steve Cooper, Select Milk Producers president and general manager of Dairy Manufacturing Operations. “We are extremely pleased to also be adding to our workforce and investing in our local community with this expansion.”

Butter production began Sept. 11, Mr. Cooper said. As buttermilk is a byproduct of butter churning, production of buttermilk powder followed.

Continental Dairy produces more than 300,000 lbs of nonfat dry milk daily. Current items manufactured for domestic and export to 15 countries include cream, condensed skimmed milk, low and medium heat nonfat dry milk powder and low and medium heat skimmed milk powder. It is owned by Select Milk Producers, the fifth largest dairy cooperative in the United States consisting of more than 90 dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Texas and New Mexico. The milk processing facility was established in 2012 and has 103 employees after the expansion.