2025 West Best Projects
Award of Merit, Manufacturing: Valley Natural Beverages Milk Processing Plant
Valley Natural Beverages Milk Processing Plant
Calif.
Award of Merit
Submitted by Big-D Construction
Owner California Dairies Inc.
Lead Design Firm/Structural E.A. Bonelli & Associates
General Contractor Big-D Construction
Civil Engineer 4Creeks
MEP Engineer Nexus Engineering
California’s first greenfield milk processing plant since 2018 spans 204,251 sq ft and will produce extended shelf life (ESL) and aseptic ultra high temperature (UHT) dairy beverages—a first for the owner. The facility will feature advanced robotics and energy-efficient solutions, including solar panels and microgrid technology.
To start, the plant will operate with three processing lines, producing conventional ESL and UHT dairy products and processing an estimated 116,000 gallons of milk daily. The owner’s strategic growth plan includes multiple expansion phases to 10-12 processing and filling production lines, tripling the facility’s current capacity. When fully operational, the plant will process up to 600,000 gallons of fresh local milk daily.
An extremely tight schedule had the project moving from standing the first wall on April 15, 2024, to producing its first run of milk products just 35 weeks later by Dec. 17. To address scheduling challenges on long lead items such as process waste manholes and air handler units, the team implemented temporary solutions such as generators, AC units, firewater storage and wastewater tanks, ensuring the project schedule remained on track.
In order to conserve water, the design team recommended the use of adiabatic closed circuit fluid coolers. This alternative met cooling temperature requirements while using only about 20% of the water required for a traditional cooler.
