Aurora Organic Dairy, the US own-label organic dairy business, is to set up a new plant in Missouri.

The Colorado-based business plans to build a processing facility in Columbia, where it already has a plant.

“The decision to build our second milk plant in Columbia culminates several years of research and diligence to determine the optimal location for a new processing operation,” Aurora Organic Dairy founder and CEO Marc Peperzak said. “Columbia was the best choice because it offers a location that expands and improves the efficiency of our total supply chain, from organic feed, to milk, to consumer.”

Aurora Organic Dairy, which is spending US$100m, will start construction later this spring. It expects the plant to be fully up and running in early 2019. The site will create more than 90 jobs initially and, if the company expands the plant further, up to 150 over the next five years, it said.