Traditional Dutch dairy Cono with 100 years of experience in producing its Beemster premium cheeses plans to build one of the most modern processing plants on the European mainland. Building permission has been granted for a futuristic design right in the middle of the Unesco World Culture Heritage Beemster Polderland. Cost is reckoned to be around EUR80 million and opening date for the cheese plant is pencilled in for mid-2013. World Culture Heritage officials are demanding optimal sustainability for the new facility in both energy and environmental terms. But no matter how futuristic the new plant is going to be, Cono has already made it clear that the traditional production process for its cheeses – stirring of the curds and washing cheeses in brine during maturing – will continue to be carried out by hand.