Leprino Foods Breaks Ground

Leprino Foods Company, a world leader in the production of premium-quality cheese and dairy ingredients, breaks ground on its new 850,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located in East Lubbock. Supported by world-class food safety, operations, training, and maintenance programs, as well as monitored and controlled through leading edge automation and instrumentation, the facility expands Leprino’s existing domestic network of manufacturing facilities.

The groundbreaking ceremony included representatives from Leprino Foods Company, the project’s general contractor, local government, business and higher education leaders, dairy suppliers, among other Lubbock dignitaries and community members.

“Today’s groundbreaking is a brick-and-mortar milestone for Leprino Foods and everyone in Lubbock who helped us get to this point,” Leprino Foods President and CEO, Mike Durkin, said. “We are ready and excited to become part of the Lubbock community and we are committed to being good business partners and good neighbors,” Durkin said.

The plant will be constructed in two phases. Phase 1 construction will be completed in late 2024, and operational in early 2025. Phase 2 is slated to be completed by early 2026. This investment will result in $10.6 billion over the next ten years for the state of Texas. The plant will be supplied by regional dairies and roughly 200 milk trucks per day to produce more than one million pounds of cheese daily. Other products being produced at this facility include dairy ingredients such as whey and lactose.

Leprino Foods is in the beginning stages of hiring full-time positions to manage the 24/7/365 facility. Team members will have the opportunity to train at one of Leprino Foods’ facilities across the country while the Lubbock plant is under construction. Other positions will range from production operations and maintenance to technical engineers and human resources. The total annual payroll at the facility will be more than $33 million with competitive wages.

“On behalf of the board and staff at LEDA, we’re incredibly excited to see the years of hard work and planning to construct this engineering marvel come to fruition with the turning of the dirt in East Lubbock,” said John Osborne, president and CEO of LEDA. “This project continues to showcase Lubbock as an ag-centric region and exemplifies the collaborative nature of the city to create opportunities for business growth.”

“Lubbock is quietly becoming a mecca of development across the country.”

Brian Cook
FAST Inc.