Southland-based infant nutrition exporter Blue River Dairy plans to double sales next year through a new production line.
Invercargill City Council chief executive Clare Hadley recently toured the plant and said the Invercargill company was experiencing phenomenal growth.
Blue River Dairy general manager Robert Boekhout said the past three years had seen the business springboard from producing and exporting 400,000 cans of infant formula in 2016, to 2.5 million cans in 2017, to being on course to reach its 2018 target of 7.5million cans.
With the addition of the new canning line, Blue River Dairy was targeting production of 15 million cans in 2019.
To accomplish this, Blue River Dairy has doubled its permanent staff in the past 12 months, going from about 50 to 105.
At least 20 more staff will be required when the new canning line opens.
In 2017, Blue River Dairy was confirmed as one of New Zealand's fastest growing businesses, coming in 10th on the Deloitte Fast 50
index.
With revenue growth of 445%, Deloitte described Blue River Dairy as a pioneering infant nutrition business, which developed the world's first sheep's milk infant formula, and the only plant in the world producing different infant formulations using cow, goat and sheep milk.
''We're known for sheep milk, but we're an innovative infant nutrition business,'' Mr Boekhout said.
Blue River Dairy had the beginning for its new canning line construction project in February, extending the footprint of its Invercargill plant.
