Saputo to sell Rochester factory

The Rochester community has been worried that the site would simply be mothballed, as Murray Goulburn has done with some previous vacated factories.

However, Mr Saputo said last week the company’s global practice on redundant factories was to close them and then remove the equipment and machinery, and then sell the property.

The Rochester factory closed about 12 months ago.

Meanwhile, Mr Saputo reassured suppliers that the future of the Cobram factory was sound, after experiencing a cut in supplier numbers and milk volume.

Mr Saputo said his company was spending millions of dollars in the cheese plant, and if necessary would truck in milk supply from other regions.

He said Saputo was looking at a variety of options and would even consider buying milk from other processors if that was required to keep the plant running at optimum level.