Rowan Glen is to invest more than £1 million in its Palnure dairy as it looks to expand beyond yoghurt and develop new dairy products, including cottage cheese.
The company is putting more than £600,000 into the upgrade, with a further £400,000 coming from a Scottish Government Food and Drink Processing Scheme grant.
The work will include changes to the factory layout, new production equipment and a high-care environment for the filling operations.
The upgrade is expected to be completed by March 2027 and will give Rowan Glen greater flexibility to develop and produce new products.
The investment comes less than four years after the Palnure factory faced closure.
When the previous business closed in November 2022, 45 jobs were lost and there were concerns that both the factory and Rowan Glen brand could disappear.
A team of nine, led by managing director Alan Baxter, then worked to restart the business as an independent Scottish dairy.
The workforce has since grown to around three times its original size, while Rowan Glen yoghurt has returned to supermarket shelves across Scotland.
Baxter, who worked for Rowan Glen for 17 years over two periods before leading the restart, said the latest investment was a significant moment for the business.
“When the previous business closed and everyone was made redundant, there was a real possibility that those 45 jobs would never return and Rowan Glen could disappear for good,” he said.
“A small group of us were prepared to take a big risk to make sure that wouldn’t be the end of Rowan Glen.
“We knew the skills and experience that existed in the team, and we knew there was real affection for the Rowan Glen brand across Scotland.”
The new equipment will allow the company to produce cottage cheese in a range of pack formats, while also giving it the option to look at other chilled dairy products for retail and foodservice.
Rowan Glen said the investment could also create opportunities to process more Scottish milk as the business grows.
The company currently sources all its milk from farms in Dumfries and Galloway.
Cottage cheese is particularly suited to the new setup as it provides another use for skimmed milk. The cream separated from the milk at Palnure can then be supplied to other food manufacturers.
Baxter said the government grant would help the business bring forward its plans.
“It will allow us to accelerate our plans, significantly upgrade the factory and strengthen our manufacturing capability,” he said.
“It will give us much more flexibility to develop new products and move into areas such as cottage cheese.”
Rowan Glen currently produces around 20 million pots and bottles of cultured dairy products a year at Palnure and supplies retail and foodservice customers across the country.
The company said the investment would provide a platform for further growth while keeping production and jobs in Dumfries and Galloway.
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