Moroccan agri co-op Extralait has opened a US$10.8m pasteurised milk plant in the north-western city Kenitra, in a bid to grow its market presence and diversify its products.
The site, which will include a pasteurised milk unit and modernised yogurt and butter production lines, is expected to create 139 direct jobs.
Developed through Ministry of Industry and Trade’s programme to develop food industries, its goal is to reinforce the dairy supply chain and bolster national food security.
Industry and trade minister Ryad Mazzour, launching the site, said the co-op model is built on unity and resilience. Over the past 70 years, he added, Extralait has brought together nearly 12,000 small-scale breeders across 44 co-operatives and 57 milk collection centres.
Quoted in Morocco World News, Mazzour highlighted the role of farmers in building a competitive dairy system. Their efforts, he said, demonstrate how solidarity and local initiatives can meet international production standards, boost capacity and improve rural livelihoods.
Youssef Lakbida, director of food industries at the ministry, said the site is an “important investment project, which aims to increase the co-operative’s production capacity, modernise and develop its production lines, and diversify its products”.
Morocco’s co-op sector has enjoyed significant growth in recent years. According to #coops4dev, the number of co-ops in the country almost doubled from 2015 to 2019, bringing the number of co-operatives to 27,262 and the number of cooperators to 563,776.
An analysis of the sectoral distribution of co-operatives and their unions shows that the agricultural sector accounts for the bulk of the sector, with a number of 17,582.
