Fonterra has officially opened its $126m Wiatoa UHT greenfield plant in the Waikato,, with all five lines now up and running to supply Asia’s dairy demand.
Dennis Jönsson, president and chief executive of Tetra Pak Group, which supplied processing and packaging equipment for the plant, says there has been an explosion in the demand for dairy products from Asian countries from New Zealand in the past three years. He says, “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 $4.6bn, double what they were in 2011.
Process Operators Neeta Sharma and Greg Smith with some of the first product produced at Fonterra’s Waitoa UHT site
“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.”
Tetra Pak expects the new plant to process more than 100 million litres of milk per year, including UHT white milk and UHT cream, now that all five of its milk processing lines are up and running.
The site has a combined daily production capacity of 250,000 litres, with products packed in Tetra Brik Aseptic 100ml, 250ml, 200ml and 125ml and Prisma Aseptic 250ml cartons, ready for export to China.
