Minister for Agriculture, Food and The Marine, Charlie McConalogue, has announced the placement of a new multi-year, €40 million contract by C&D Foods - which is the ABP pet food division - in Donegal-based packaging company ProAmpac.

The contract will see the Donegal ProAmpac facility becoming the strategic supplier of pet food flexible packaging for C&D Foods’ operations, not just in Ireland, but across its European operations.

The contract is expected to facilitate site production expansion and further job creation which will contribute to making Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore) a global centre of pet food and sustainable ready-to-eat packaging manufacturing.

ProAmpac Donegal (which merged with the former Rapid Action Packaging) is a private US company and an Údarás na Gaeltachta client company.

It employs 200 people locally in Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore) and has 5,200 employees globally.

Commenting on the announcement, Minister McConalogue said: “A key component of our Programme for Government is a balanced regional economic development and seeing a project of this nature is great news for Donegal and the north west region as a whole.

Colm Dore, managing director of C&D Foods said: “ProAmpac is innovative and forward looking in its approach, and the development of sustainable packaging is fully aligned with C&D’s strategic objectives. We look forward to working with them for many years to come.”

Greg Tucker, ProAmpac founder and CEO added: “ProAmpac’s partnership with C&D Foods showcases our joint commitment to sustainable practices in flexible packaging.

C&D Foods has said that a key element of the contract will be the development of an innovative, more sustainable pet food pouch.

The new sustainable packaging, which is currently being trialled, will enable pouches to be fully recycled when new advanced recyclable solutions are introduced into many European markets.

Preparation work and trials on the new packaging are now underway with a market launch expected later this year.

C&D Foods is headquartered in Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford and is one of the largest pet food manufacturers in Europe.

The company also has production facilities in seven other European countries. C&D Foods employs 452 people in Ireland and a further 1,148 across Europe.