The first bags of whole milk powder have rolled off the production
line at Fonterra’s
new $200 million manufacturing site near Darfield in Canterbury and
are bound for South East Asia, China and the Middle East.

Fonterra Director Operations - NZ Milk Products Brent Taylor says
it was smooth running for the new milk powder plant, which produced
40 metric tonnes of product in its first full day of operations.

"It has taken less than two years to bring the project together and
it is a significant achievement for the Co-op and good news for
Canterbury and the wider Christchurch rebuild," he says.

"More than 1500 people have been involved in construction of the
first drier and all their hard work has paid off.

"With a current annual growth rate of around five to six per cent,
Canterbury is New Zealand’s fastest growing region for dairy.
And with our combined investment of $500 million across stage one
and two at Darfield, we see a strong future in Central Canterbury,"
says Mr Taylor.

The new manufacturing site will play an important part in the
Co-op’s strategy to optimise its New Zealand milk business.

"We collect milk from our farmers, who are among the best in the
world at turning green grass into fresh milk, and turn it into high
quality product with world-class efficiency."

Fonterra Darfield is the Co-op’s first new site in 14 years
and has been fitted with world-leading innovation
and technology.

"The drier has been built by GEA Process Engineering to produce
15MT per hour but, once installed, we add our own intellectual
property rights - call it our x-factor," says Mr Taylor.

"This helps keep our farmer-shareholders internationally
competitive and is aimed at driving more value their way."

At peak capacity, Darfield Drier 1 will convert about 2.2 million
litres of milk per day into 370MT of whole milk powder. Stage Two
of the site’s development includes extension of the
site’s dry store as well as the commissioning of a second
30MT per hour milk drier which will triple the site’s
capacity.