Darigold To Boost Production In Spokane

Closure of Darigold Inc.’s dairy in Yakima means a possible 10 percent jump in business for the company’s Spokane bottling plant, where another 50,000 to 100,000 gallons of milk will be produced each month.

Darigold on Wednesday announced that it would shut down the 60-year-old Yakima plant at the end of the month, converting it into a warehouse for distributing milk processed in Seattle.

As a result, dairy products sold in the Tri-Cities will begin to come from Darigold’s Spokane plant at Francis and Division, where 120 workers churn out more than 1 million gallons a month.

“The Spokane plant has plenty of capacity to handle the increase,” said Darigold Vice President Doug Marshall, adding that it can be done without hiring additional workers.

Darigold said the Yakima bottling plant, which was one-third the size of the Spokane facility, was inefficient and out of date. About half the 35 Yakima workers will be laid off.

The decision to close the Yakima operation strengthens the future of the Spokane plant, Marshall said. Built in 1958, the bottler distributes products under the Darigold and private labels throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Darigold, a 77-year-old cooperative owned by 1,100 dairy farmers, also has bottling plants in Portland and Seattle.

, DataTimes