Battle for milk
OPINION: Fonterra may be on the verge of selling its consumer business in New Zealand, but the co-operative is not keen on giving any ground to its competitors in the country.
Local farmers, neighbours, staff and families from around the Waikato were invited to meet the Te Rapa team, taste-test products coming out of Te Rapa and get a behind-the-scenes look at the processing facilities.
Fonterra Te Rapa operations manager Scott Nelson says the community open day was a significant milestone for the site and an opportunity to share Fonterra's pride for Te Rapa with the community.
"We often talk about volume, velocity and value, and Te Rapa is a great example of these three principles at work. Day and night the team work hard to ensure that we are delivering the finest products for our consumers and we are very proud of what we do."
Eight million litres of milk flow through Te Rapa daily – that's 300 tankers of milk coming out of one of the country's strongest dairying regions and turned into 325,000 tonnes of product each year for customers in more than 100 markets around the world.
Nelson says Te Rapa's success comes from decades of support from the surrounding community.
"No matter the background, almost everyone in the Waikato has a connection to our site in some way or another – many through family or friends who work at the site, as Fonterra farmers who supply our milk, and as customers using our ingredients to make their products.
"It's the support of these communities that allows us to continue making some of the world's most sought after and trusted products."
Those who visited the site are encouraged to share their photos and experiences from the day on social media via Fonterra Co-operative's Facebook page with the hash tags: #fonterra #openday.
