NEWCASTLE Emlyn dairy firm Dairy Partners (formerly Dansco Dairy) is building on recent successes and has just made it into the Sunday Times fast track 200.

The league table ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastets growing international sales.

Together they grew their international sales over the last two years by an average of 39 percent a

Director Robert Peel said: “Since restarting production of mozzarella cheese at the site in November 2013 we have been steadily building our farmer supplier base. Now over 100 and growing steadily.

“We are processing up to three million litres of milk per week and running around the clock 24 hours a day, seven days per week, producing circa 15,000 tonnes per annum. This from zero when the milk supply was lost by previous owners Saputo.”

The product range now includes string cheese as well as block mozzarella.

Employment on the site has gone from 23 to 64 full time with additional agency staff of up to a further 20 to 25.

“At number 20 it reflects our huge success in 2015 of achieving almost 11£million in export sales, up over 100 per cent in the last two years,” said Mr Peel.

“We are now exporting Mozzarella Cheese to over 16 countries worldwide, including China, Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan, Thailand, North Africa, Canada and Middle East. All of these are new customers in the last 2 years and in the really exciting new export markets for cheese.

“The world market we believe is now in recovery from an extremely weak recent past and our business in these new markets will be part of (a small one- but indicative) of what will drive the recovery for dairy in Europe in the future.

“Dairy Partners success at Newcastle Emlyn is a testament not only to the commitment of all our staff and the extra effort they have all put in, but to our Farmer suppliers who have trusted us to secure new markets for their milk.”