Fonterra has officially opened its NZ$126 million UHT greenfield plant in Waitoa, New Zealand. The plant features state-of-the-art Tetra Pak processing and packaging equipment which will produce a range of products including UHT white milk and UHT cream for the foodservice sector.
Fonterra chose Tetra Pak’s processing and packaging equipment for the new plant’s five UHT lines in July last year. It doubles Fonterra’s UHT production capacity. The combined daily production capacity of the plant is 250,000 litres. A range of dairy products will be packed in Tetra Brik Aseptic 1000ml, 250ml, 200ml and 125ml and Tetra Prisma Aseptic 250ml cartons to be exported to China.
Dennis Jönsson, president and chief executive officer of Tetra Pak Group commented, “Since my last visit to New Zealand three years ago, we have seen an explosion in the demand for dairy products from Asian countries, and the part played by New Zealand in meeting that need has been quite incredible. In 2013, nine countries in Asia were amongst the top 20 importers by total volume of liquid and powdered milk; and New Zealand’s dairy exports to China alone stood at $4.6 billion, double what they were in 2011..
“Population growth, increasing prosperity and further urbanisation across Asia will see that demand growth continue through the years ahead. And the foresight and responsiveness of New Zealand’s dairy sector, and government, will help to ensure the country is perfectly placed to respond. The new factory in which we are standing today is a great example of that responsiveness and foresight.
In the late 1990s Australia produced the same amount of milk as the world's biggest dairy exporter, New Zealand. Since then, Australia's milk production has fallen about 20%, while New Zealand's has risen by 88.9% to almost 19 billion litres last year. Fonterra was formed in 2001 through the merger of two of the country's biggest dairy co-operatives and in 2008 received the support of the New Zealand government’s free trade agreement with China. Australia has been negotiating a similar agreement for nine years with no result to date.
