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New Zealand sales of Westgold butter have just soared past the three million mark, on the back of a consumer shift towards more natural fats. Produced in Hokitika by Westland Milk Products, Westgold is marketed as the ‘everyday gourmet butter’. It appeared in nearly a quarter of Kiwi fridges last year, and Westgold’s salted butter was the third most purchased butter in North Island New World supermarkets, according to recent Nielsen data. The three million sales milestone has been achieved in just three years, following the product’s domestic launch in 2015. Westgold has only two ingredients – cream and salt. Recent reports indicate that demand for butter, cream and other dairy-rich products continues to increase globally, in line with consumers’ renewed taste for natural fats. International retail butter sales are expected to expand by 2.9 percent to (US) $19.4 billion in 2018, outpacing the 1.9 percent growth in sales volumes, according to Euromonitor International. Westland General Manager Marketing and Innovation Hamish Yates says discerning consumers appreciate the fact that not all butter is created equal. “Globally, we are seeing an increasing consumer demand for natural, wholesome foods, and a return to the simplicity that products such as butter offer,” says Hamish. “Westland is proudly owned by our shareholders, the vast majority of whom farm on the West Coast. “The West Coast has New Zealand’s highest proportion of jersey and jersey-cross cows, which are renowned for producing milk high in butterfat. We think this, combined with our traditional churning technique, helps make Westgold butter so special. “We also find that there is a real appeal for the West Coast from North Island customers, who associate the region’s rugged beauty with a more natural product,” adds Hamish. One of Westland’s farmer shareholders is John Marshall. Along with his partner Anna, John milks […]

   Fonterra has appointed an independent Sustainability Advisory Panel to guide the Co-operative as it strives to be a world leader in sustainably produced dairy nutrition. The panel features a diverse range of experts including: Sir Rob Fenwick (Chair), who co-founded the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development and was the first New Zealander knighted for services to both business and conservation. Paul Gilding, a Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership, author and former global head of Greenpeace. Aroha Mead, a Research Associate specialising in Mātauranga Māori and indigenous knowledge. Bridget Coates, Chairperson of White Cloud Dairy Innovation, Director of Tegel Group Holdings Ltd and former Director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Hugh Logan, who Chaired the Land and Water Forum and has 40 years’ experience in natural resource management. Michelle Pye, owner of large scale agricultural business Pye Group and member of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council. CEO Miles Hurrell says the panel represents one part of the Co-op’s wider strategy to build sustainability into everything it does. “Our independent panel will help ensure our strategy is relevant to current and evolving sustainability trends while being integrated into commercial objectives,” says Hurrell. “Some of the world’s biggest sustainability challenges are around food and we believe, like many, that the global food system must shift from being part of the problem to becoming a greater part of the solution. Our Co-op is already taking action to support healthy environments and strong communities, but we know we must do more.” Hurrell says collaboration is key. “Environment Minister David Parker and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor have just announced the New Zealand Government’s blueprint to improve freshwater quality which is encouraging to see and we support their overall objective. We share their commitment to deliver healthy waterways […]

  A Milk-Guard device in action at a dairy processing plant, operated by Dr Matthew Jones (CEO, CertusBio). A new device that detects processing losses in dairy plants could save the industry millions of dollars a year and help prevent pollutants from entering waterways.  Lincoln University-owned research and development company, Lincoln Agritech Ltd, developed the breakthrough technology and it was then commercialised by Christchurch-based start-up company, CertusBio. The result is a robust, automated biosensor capable of continuous monitoring in commercial operating conditions. Known as Milk-Guard, the device uses a lactose-specific enzyme to measure the percentage of dairy products present in waste streams and processing lines. These percentages are automatically sent to a dairy plant process control room, where operators can monitor them and make changes to the production process if necessary. CertusBio CEO Dr Matthew Jones said that due to the vast quantity of dairy products processed in New Zealand, large amounts of valuable products could be lost quickly. “Given the significant economic return to New Zealand from the dairy industry, it is vital to extract as much value from dairy processing as possible by using reliable, fully automated systems to accurately and rapidly monitor losses in dairy processing waste streams. “Dairy plant operators will be able to improve the resource and energy efficiency of their plant processes by reducing losses of valuable dairy products and ultimately increasing company profitability.” Dr Jones said current loss-monitoring methods were reliant on retrospective testing collected over 24 hours. “Because this testing is done after the dairy products have been processed, it doesn’t allow for adjustments to be made while the plant is operating, so losses can’t be limited in real time.” Two-to-three per cent of all dairy products are lost during processing and while this is inevitable to a certain extent, a significant […]

Some already call it the Riviera of the South and now Timaru could also be the pizza capital of New Zealand, as the region becomes the Southern Hemisphere’s largest producer of natural mozzarella cheese. Fonterra’s Clandeboye site fired up its third new mozzarella line today, meaning it now produces enough of the revolutionary cheese to top more than half a billion pizzas a year. The cheese, which is made from one of the Co-operative’s secret recipes, is made in hours rather than in months – the time traditional mozzarella takes. It’s destined for pizzas all over the world. Fonterra cheese already tops around 50% of the pizzas in China – one of the fastest growing pizza markets in the world. Caption: Say cheese! MP for Rangitata Andrew Falloon, Timaru Mayor Damon Odey, Process Operator Shannon Biggs, Process Operator Paula Eddy, Process Operator Pene Hammond and Cheese Plant Manager Chris Turner. Fonterra Chief Operating Officer Global Operations Robert Spurway says the new plant, which was built in under two years, is a great example of the Co-operative’s ambition to move more milk into value add products. “We’re focussed on getting more value from every drop of our farmers milk. With the opening of this new mozarella plant and recent expansion of our Darfield site, we’re able to produce even more higher returning products. That’s good news for our farmers and the communities they live in,” says Mr Spurway. Fonterra GM Marketing Global Foodservice, Susan Cassidy, says “the new plant will double the site’s production of mozzarella – the world’s most popular variety of cheese, topping more than 80% of pizzas in Australia, China, South East Asia and the Middle East. We’re excited to have a slice of this market and are looking forward to that slice growing. “Globally more and more […]