Farmers' call
OPINION: Fonterra's $4.22 billion consumer business sale to Lactalis is ruffling a few feathers outside the dairy industry.
A one litre cream product sold to kitchens, restaurants and bakeries all through Asia and China is a real growth market, says Fonterra's operations manager Canpac, Russell Muir.
The product is processed and packaged at Fonterra's 2-year-old UHT plant at Waitoa.
"Technical experts tell us the cream in these one litre containers is the best cream in the world in terms of quality. That is a real selling point for us in that market," says Muir.
One litre milks and creams produced at Waitoa are also sold for home use in China and Asia. Some product is in gift pack form sold in China and based around the quality of New Zealand milk, he says. The gift pack is a big seller at certain times of the year like Chinese New Year.
Waitoa also produces a range of single use products that are going into the same market in different varieties. There's standard, flavoured and high protein milks. Most of the single serve products are aimed at children. The plant also produces the standard single serve milk for New Zealand's Milk for Schools programmes which provide milk daily for school children.
Waitoa has five production lines in the plant running up to three at any one time.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
Environment Southland's catchment improvement funding is once again available for innovative landowners in need of a boost to get their project going.
The team meeting at the Culverden Hotel was relaxed and open, despite being in the middle of calving when stress levels are at peak levels, especially in bitterly cold and wet conditions like today.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
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