Organic Italian cheese plant coming to Indiana
Golfo di Napoli Dairy is investing $9.5m in a new 30,000-square-foot plant. It will occupy 40 acres of land in northeast Huntington County. It’s expected to begin construction this fall and start production by February 2019.
The Italian startup is owned by a team of fourth-generation cheese producers and plans to make mozzarella, burrata, ricotta, provolone and other cheeses using the pasta filata technique, traditionally used in the Naples region.
The new plant will use USDA-certified organic milk from Fair Oaks Farms, a dairy business and family attraction in Indiana and Wisconsin. The Indiana dairy industry already supports approximately 107,500 jobs, and the Golfo di Napoli plant will create 35 jobs over the next three years.
Suzanne Crouch, Indiana’s Lt. Governor and Secretary of Agriculture, said “With nearly 1,000 Hoosier dairies and 26 dairy processing plants, Golfo di Napoli Dairy will have quick and plentiful access to fresh milk, making Indiana the perfect fit for its first U.S. production facility.”
Location, location, location
According to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), there are 29 other Italian-owned businesses in Indiana, like Dallara, Sirmax North America, Italpollina, OMR Automotive, Somaschini North America and Coram USA, employing nearly 114,000 locals.
Antonio Somma, president of Golfo di Napoli Dairy, said, “We chose Indiana because we believe that it is the perfect location to produce authentic Neapolitan mozzarella, serving customers across the Midwest. This facility and our partnership with Fair Oaks Farm will allow us to expand our cheese production expertise to the US.”
The IEDC reportedly offered Golfo di Napoli Dairy up to $300,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company's job creation plans. But the incentives, including additional grant funding, are performance-based and can’t be claimed until local Indiana residents are hired at the facility.
Larry Buzzard, president of the Huntington County Board of Commissioners, said the town has “had this site on our long-range plans for years. The Indiana Site Certified program hyper-accelerated interest in this location. I can’t say enough about the state and local collaboration it’s taken to make this possible. Teamwork like this produces great results.”
