Member Showcase: Leprino Foods

Leprino Foods, the world’s largest manufacturer of mozzarella cheese, has a bustling branch in Roswell, New Mexico. With more than 600 employees at their Roswell Facility, Leprino Foods has been creating jobs and giving back to Roswell & Chaves County for more than 30 years.

Leprino Foods Impact on Roswell & Chaves County 

The Roswell Leprino Foods plant uses locally sourced dairy, receiving more than 6 million pounds (approx., 700,000 gallons) of dairy each day. All the dairy is purchased from local dairy farmers within approximately a 50-mile radius of the plant.

The plant produces cheese and nutritional products, including mozzarella cheese for pizza, Whey Protein Concentrate, and Lactose. Despite their global reach, Leprino is focused on collaborating with farmers and sourcing locally to produce the freshest cheese possible.

Leprino Foods is conscious of its impact on Roswell & Chaves County and is focused on being a good neighbor. The company has made significant contributions to local Chaves County organizations through Leprino Foods Company Foundation Grants, donations, and employee volunteerism. Each September, Roswell Plant employees take part in a companywide Month of Impact to further extend the impact of the community involvement activities that are ongoing throughout the year.

Leprino launched its first Climate Action Strategic Planning process in 2021 to minimize its environmental footprint on the local community and global customers it serves. The organization’s leadership is excited to take part in the dairy industry’s ambitious goal of greenhouse gas neutrality and optimized water use by 2050. To minimize waste, the Roswell plant has created multiple strategies to reduce waste overall and minimize the amount of waste sent to landfills. As a result, less than 1% of the waste they produce gets sent to landfills.

To foster a team spirit, Leprino Foods engages the skills and passions of every employee toward natural resource conservation. The Roswell plant has a grassroots Resource Conservation Team to raise awareness about resource-smart behaviors and find low- and no-cost ways to save energy, water, and other resources.

The Roswell facility is also an exemplary model of Leprino’s water recycling capabilities. The capture, treatment, and reuse of the water from milk called COW (condensate of whey) water allows them to maximize opportunities to reuse water – minimizing the amount of municipal water or groundwater withdrawn for their plants and reducing the amount of wastewater their plants discharge. All the water the plant uses is treated for irrigation use on cropland adjacent to the plant to grow feed for local livestock. Recognizing that water is a shared resource, Leprino uses water wisely and ensures the water quality they return. Not only do they recycle water as much as possible, they’re net generators of water – meaning Leprino returns more water to the environment for beneficial use than they withdraw. Additionally, to achieve water reduction goals, Leprino’s leadership is pursuing a portfolio of incremental improvements and large-scale projects to increase water efficiency and recycling across their locations.

The Roswell Leprino Foods plant just celebrated 30 years in Roswell and has a long-term future in Chaves County with plans to invest in more upgrades to the facility. Their commitment to creating jobs, sourcing locally, and giving back to the community makes them an amazing partner in Roswell & Chaves County. To learn how your business can thrive in Chaves County, contact us today.