AFRICA'S NO.1 FOOD, BEVERAGE & MILLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

New Zealand’s milk production to fall in 2022 as weather patterns normalize

Oct 19, 2021Oct 21, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand’s milk production is forecast to drop 0.5% in 2022 as the industry returns to more normal production trends after the exceptional production season of 2021, USDA has reported. According to recent USDA projections, about 22.25 million metric tons (MMT) of milk will be produced in the 2022 production cycle, assuming normal weather patterns prevail. Propelled by a stellar first half of the year, milk production for 2021 is now estimated at 22.37 MMT, 1.8 percent above 2020. USDA notes that the volume may have even been…

Synlait appoints industry veteran Grant Watson as CEO to steer company towards profitability

Oct 1, 2021Oct 1, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand milk processor Synlait has appointed dairy industry veteran Grant Watson as its new CEO as it seeks to steer itself back to profitability. Watson will be joining the business in January 2022, succeeding John Penno, who will then be appointed as chairman when Graeme Milne retires next year. He will be joined by Robert Stowell, who has been appointed chief financial officer after acting in the role for the last five months. Watson has worked in the dairy industry since 2010, including in his most recent role as Miraka’s CEO. Prior to that, he held several…

Fonterra posts US$422m profit after tax, to review Chile, Australian operations inline with strategy to prioritize New Zealand milk

Sep 28, 2021Sep 28, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – Farmer owned multinantional dairy cooperative Fonterra has recorded a NZ$599m (US$422m) reported profit after tax for the 2021 financial year, as it moves into a new phase of growing the value of its business. According to the cooperative, the 2021 financial year benefited significantly from the divestments of DFE Pharma and foodspring. Normalized profit after tax grew from NZ$190m (US$134m) to NZ$588m (US$415m), driven by improved earnings and lower interest expense. Fonterra reported a well-balanced sales performance across the regions where it operates with the Greater…

Olam Food Ingredients to develop dairy processing plant in New Zealand

Sep 14, 2021Sep 14, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – Olam Food Ingredients, the ingredients arm of Singapore-headquartered food and agri-business company-Olam, has announced plans of setting up a new dairy processing facility in the North Island town of Tokoroa, New Zealand. The new processing plant investment by the global leader in natural and sustainable ingredient solutions, follows 10 years as an investor in the New Zealand dairy sector. It will become part of a global network that spans 20 major milk consumption markets, such as South-East Asia, China, the Middle East, and Africa further cementing its…

Fonterra sells China JV farms to AustAsia Investment to focus more on New Zealand milk production

Jun 29, 2021Jun 30, 2021 Editor

China – Fonterra, a leading dairy cooperative owned by New Zealand dairy farmers, is selling its stake in two joint venture (JV) farms in Shandong province, China, to AustAsia Investment Holdings in line with its goals to focus more on production at its home country. According to a statement from the company, the farms will be sold to Singapore-based AustAsia for US$115.5 million. Fonterra had a 51% controlling stake in the farms and is expected to receive NZD 88 million ($62.1 million approx.) in sale proceeds. The move to sell the Chinese JV farms follows a 2019 decision to…

New Zealand milk production forecast to reach record levels in 2021 despite of declining national dairy herd

May 6, 2021May 6, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – Milk production in New Zealand, one of the largest dairy producers in the world, is forecast to attain record production levels in 2021 despite of a shrinking national dairy herd. According to projections from the United States Department of Agriculture, total milk production is forecast at 22.2 million metric tons (MMT), 1.2 percent above the 21.98 MMT produced in 2020. USDA attributes the expected uptick in dairy production to an adequate preparation from farmers for the second half of the New Zealand production season and a cow…

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra embarks on a journey towards a future without coal

Apr 7, 2021Apr 7, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – Fonterra, New Zealand’s premier dairy cooperative, is finally embarking on a journey towards a future where it does not rely on coal for its energy needs. Fonterra said it has been working on its transition to renewable energy and said it can, and will, get out of coal, with a couple of practical constraints. The company however admitted New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission’s pathway to ending coal use by 2037 is ambitious and will be challenging to meet. At the moment, Nine of Fonterra’s 29 sites use…

Nestlé to halt production at New Zealand facility, develops new sustainable packaging for confectionery in UK

Mar 29, 2021Mar 29, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – Swiss food manufacturing giant Nestlé has announced a proposal to relocate confectionery production from its Wiri, New Zealand factory to a larger Allen’s factory in regional Victoria, Australia. The company said the relocation of operations at the Wiri site which produces Allen’s chews lollies for sale in Australia would result in up to 45 redundancies. Chris O’Donnell, confectionery general manager at Nestlé, said that the company regretted that the proposal will entail job losses at Wiri and that Nestlé would provide staff with a generous redundancy package…

Westland Milk to boost consumer butter production as Arla Foods UK prepares to launch new butter product

Mar 26, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand dairy company, Westland Milk Products has announced plans to boost consumer butter production as part of the company’s strategy to move away from being a supplier of bulk commodity butter. Westland Milk said it is investing NZD 40 million (about US$27.8 million) to upgrade its Hoktika plant and increase the production capacity of its consumer butter brand. The upgrades which will start in May are expected to almost double the production of the company’s Westgold butter brand to 42,000 tonnes a year. Facility expansion and…

New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra to exit China to focus on home market

Mar 17, 2021Mar 17, 2021 Editor

NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative, Fonterra has announced plans to divest from its businesses in China, in a move to prioritize its home market. The company said that it will divest from its joint venture farms in China’s Shandong province and offload its remaining stake in Chinese infant formula manufacturer Beingmate. The decision comes after Fonterra agreed to offload its own farms in the country for approximately US$369 million and is similarly in line with the company’s strategy to focus on New Zealand milk. The…