Cheese ingredient supplier Whitehall Specialties becomes Ornua Ingredients North America
The deal was first announced in October, 2021.
Irish dairy cooperative Ornua is already active in the US market, with its butter brand Kerrygold the number-two selling butter brand in the US.
OINA custom formulates and manufactures a complete line of functional and nutritional cheese-based ingredient solutions for food manufacturing and foodservice customers across the US, Canada, Central and South America. The company has two production facilities in Hilbert and Byron.
WSI develops and manufactures a range of customized processed, analogue and plant-based cheese products in a range of configurations and varieties. The company also has long-standing relationships with food manufacturing, retail, and foodservice customers.
WSI's four production and warehousing facilities, two in Whitehall and one in Hillsboro, WI; the other in Slippery Rock, PA, will now operate under the Ornua name.
OINA president, Rick Pedersen said, "Whitehall's expertise, product lines and strong industry relationships make it an excellent fit for OINA.
"This acquisition creates a larger global player in the cheese industry. We expect to see a strong growth trajectory as we capitalize on our shared technical expertise and innovation. With our market share and scale of operations increased, OINA has the added capacity and flexibility to support our existing and new customers' growth plans in new and ambitious ways."
OINA said it is committed to the WSI communities in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Together with WSI's 500 employees, OINA now has an 800 strong team.
"Our cooperative ethos is at the heart of how Ornua does business," Pedersen said.
"We are focused on developing and supporting our people and recognize that investing in talent underpins our success. Our mission is to create value for our people, customers and farmer shareholders. We call it Growth for Good."
