Fonterra opens slice-on-slice cheese plant expansion at Eltham

Fonterra boss Theo Spierings was up at 3.30am on Wednesday to visit Taranaki dairy farmers in their cowsheds ahead of the opening of the co-operative's new $32 million slice on slice cheese expansion at Eltham.
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He told about 150 guests at the ceremony the visits allowed him to see farmers’ pride in the co-operative and their passion for their own businesses.
Guests at the ceremony, which began with a Ngati Ruanui and Ngaruahine karakia, included South Taranaki district mayor Ross Dunlop,  Whanganui MP Chester Borrows,  farmers, iwi and members of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council.
Jim Turahui, of Eltham, said he felt privileged to bless Fonterra’s whare.
The expanded plant will be able to produce enough cheese each year to fill more than three billion burgers.
Spierings said the expansion contributed to Fonterra’s strategy to add value to its product.
Last season its $8 billion food consumer business used one billion litres of milk more than the previous one. That increase, equivalent to Switzerland’s dairy production, was why the co-operative needed manufacturing assets like the Eltham plant.
Spierings said the signs on the horizon for an improvement in the farmgate milk price were positive, although the «hallelujah moment» hadn’t arrived yet.
Having spoken to 2500 farmers in the last few weeks, he said they understood the volatility of the global market and Fonterra’s value-add strategy.
He said their apparent positive mood was helped by good conditions for pasture growth and good cow condition ahead of calving, a clear understanding of the co-operative’s global strategy and its effort to tell the good story of the dairy industry.
Managing director of global operations Robert Spurway said the two new cheese production lines, which doubled the site’s annual sliced cheese production to almost 3.5 billion slices, would help Fonterra to better meet customers’ requirements.
The focus of the project was driving value for Fonterra and for the whole of New Zealand.
«Each of our customers has slightly different requirements and uses for the cheese we make for them, and this additional capacity will allow us to meet more than 350 different product specifications – that’s 350 very exacting recipes.»
Spurway said whether burgers were consumed in New Zealand, China, the Middle East, or Africa, they were likely to contain cheese produced in Eltham.
About 500 staff produce 90,000 tonnes of cheese a year at Eltham, rightly known as the cheese capital of New Zealand.
Fonterra director David MacLeod said the expansion was a fine example of the way the co-operative made the most of the milk its farmers produced.
«This plant is owned by farmers and operated by people who live in the region and who bring skills and commitment to their work. I’m proud it plays a pivotal role in the community we call home.»
It was an example of the co-operative’s strengths and its strategy to push into an area of high returns.
Commentators urging the co-operative to add value to its products failed to recognise it was already doing that and doing it well. Its $8 billion food service and consumer business generated more than New Zealand’s red meat exports. If it was a stand-alone business, it would be New Zealand’s largest.
Acknowledging the safety record of the 19-month project, he said no incidents were recorded during 120,000 hours of work.
Borrows said Eltham had a long history of  dairy manufacture which could be traced back to Chinese businessman Chew Chong. He bought fungus gathered by farmers in the 19th century and manufactured butter for sale  in New Zealand and overseas. «This place is built on relationships and special connections and it’s all part of making the boat go faster. »
Dunlop also noted Chew Chong’s founding role in Taranaki’s dairy industry and urged Fonterra to highlight the province’s unique history in promotion of its dairy produce in China.
Guests visited the plant and watched the manufacturing process after the opening
 
Source: Stuff
 

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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