11 July 2008 – Ysco, a subsidiary of Belgian cooperative Milcobel and an ice cream manufacturer specialising in private labels, plans to spend Euro 7.5 million on its French plant in Argentan, Orne, in a bid to tap into increasing customer demand in France and Europe, local media report.
Ysco is responsible for Milcobel’s ice cream operations, which are spread out between Ysco’s Langemark (Belgium) plant and the Argentan facility. Some 85% of Ysco’s turnover is accounted for by private label ice cream, a sector which is currently experiencing strong growth.
Since it acquired the Argentan plant off Unilever in 2001 Ysco has spent €15 million on new production, packaging and distribution lines as part of plans to increase production capacity from 25 to its current 60 million litres.
The new €7.5-million investment will be targeted at expanding preproduction capacity and improving internal logistics over the next three years. New production lines will follow between 2011 and 2013 as part of a second investment package. Production capacity at the Argentan plant should reach 100 million litres by the end of Ysco’s five-year plan.
