Fonterra has announced a further investment in its operations.
With around $150 million earmarked for a new cool store at its Whareroa site in Taranaki, this announcement has followed recent news of a new protein plant at the Co-operative’s Studholme site and a new UHT cream plant at Edendale in the South Island.
Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell said these investments created value for the cooperative at every point of the value chain.
“Over the past few weeks, Fonterra has announced significant strategic investments to expand and upgrade its operations. Our strong balance sheet is enabling us to invest for future growth and support ongoing delivery of our strategy,” said Hurrell.
“These investments enable us to keep growing our Ingredients and Foodservice businesses as we look to prioritise these channels to create more value for the Co-op.”
The new cool store will be the size of three rugby fields (19,000 m2), store around 26,000 tonnes of cheese, and increase the site’s cool store capacity by around 5,000 tonnes.
Fonterra Chief Operating Officer Anna Palairet said these big investments would significantly impact the Co-op. The new cool store was strategically important because it would play a crucial role in the resilience of the Cooperative’s supply chain.
“As is always the case when making investment decisions, we carefully consider where to allocate capital to maximise value to farmer shareholders and unit holders over the long term,” said Palairet.
“Our Whareroa site processes up to 12.5 million litres of milk per day and produces 30 percent of the Co-op’s cheese, along with a number of other products, including butter, casein, and powders.”
She added that the Taranaki region was a dairy heartland. She was delighted Fonterra could make this significant investment into shoring up operations at this site, one of its largest networks.
Construction on the new cool store will begin next month and will take place in two phases, enabling the existing building to remain operational.
The expansion is expected to create local employment opportunities and will take three years to complete.
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