Prime Minister John Key has attended a blessing of Fonterra’s $126 million UHT milk construction site at Waitoa in the Waikato.
The plant, expected to be operational from April next year, will allow Fonterra to increase its longlife milk production by 100 per cent over the next few years.
Following the blessing by local iwi Ngati Haua, Key discussed the construction project and farmer supplier levels with Fonterra chairman John Wilson. Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings was also present.
Key was then given a private tour of the wider Fonterra Waitoa plant and met staff.
The new UHT plant will create 50 more jobs. It will have five UHT lines producing a range of products including UHT white milk and cream for the foodservice sector, a business that generates more than $1 billion in sales a year.
Most of the product will be exported to Asia.
Source: Stuff
