Dairy Connect Research. Edited by Steve Moncrieff. October 2026. Part Four of the Protein Series and a More from Milk report, and the first report in the series published for Dairy Connect Members.
Executive summary
Demand for dairy protein is no longer the open question. The open question for the UK and Ireland is who has the plant to turn whey into the forms customers specify, and on what evidence.
Fonterra has answered that question for New Zealand with capital. Its Studholme advanced protein hub, a 75 million New Zealand dollar investment announced in August 2024, was completed on time and on budget, has concluded product validation and is nearing full-scale commercial production, according to its 2026 annual report. On 24 September 2026 the co-operative committed an extra 1 billion New Zealand dollars over three years to its South Island protein network, to be operational in 2029. In Ireland, Tirlán announced a €126 million whey protein investment at Ballyragget on 14 November 2025, including clear whey. In Britain, the cycle is arriving through ownership: Lactalis, which bought Fonterra's consumer business in March 2026 and the UK protein brand Protein Works in June, agreed on 14 August 2026 to acquire Saputo's UK dairy division, including Davidstow, for approximately £988 million.
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Published by The Dairy Mail, Dairy Connect: https://www.dairy-connect.com/the-dairy-mail/the-protein-plant/
