Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate / Business

Forecast preceded crisis news

By Mike Barrington
Northern Advocate·
7 Aug, 2013 04:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings and chairman John Wilson did not know about the baby milk product contamination when they announced the forecast payout boost for dairy farmers last week.

And while Northland farmers wanted to know how the contamination scandal could affect their payout, it was too early to speculate what the impact could be, Fonterra group director of communications, Kerry Underhill, said yesterday.

He told the Northern Advocate the 50c forecast payout increase to $7.50 a kilogram of milksolids for the 2013-14 season was announced early on July 31 before the CEO and chairman had received any indication that there was a quality issue with whey protein produced at a Waikato dairy factory.

It wasn't until later in the day that tests indicated the potential presence in the whey protein of bugs which could cause botulism. While the quality issue had emerged in March, tests had needed to be carried out to determine if there was a possible health risk.

"That doesn't happen in five minutes in a company of Fonterra's size," Mr Underhill said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When Mr Spierings was told about the test results late last Thursday, he had set up a meeting of directors for Friday morning to tell them about the potential contamination and later that day the Ministry for Primary Industries was informed.

On Saturday, Mr Spierings had announced the product recall which sparked overseas bans on Fonterra products, a slide in the value of the New Zealand dollar and the biggest storm of criticism to face the company since the 2008 melamine contamination scandal in which babies died after drinking infant formula manufactured by the Chinese dairy company Sanlu, in which Fonterra held a major stake.

While emphasising it was too early to assess the impact of the latest contamination issue on the dairy farmers' payout, Mr Underhill pointed out that global dairy trading prices had remained stable for Fonterra yesterday.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recovery of the New Zealand dollar and Fonterra share price rises are other optimistic indicators.

In a separate development, Fonterra yesterday confirmed it has been fined about NZ$900,000 (RMB 4.47 million) following the conclusion of the China National Development and Reform Commission review of pricing practices for consumer dairy products in China.

Commenting on the fine, Mr Underhill said it was understood to be in the lowest range of penalties imposed on a number of companies in the dairy industry.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Business

The $80m blackout: How a pylon error plunged Northland into darkness

05 Jun 10:22 PM
Northern Advocate

Dargaville water crisis: Businesses face losses and residents raise health concerns

31 May 12:09 AM
Premium
Northern Advocate

KiwiSaver changes 'a burden' for small businesses and self-employed

22 May 08:00 PM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

The $80m blackout: How a pylon error plunged Northland into darkness

The $80m blackout: How a pylon error plunged Northland into darkness

05 Jun 10:22 PM

The power outage cost Northland businesses between $37.5 million and $80 million.

Dargaville water crisis: Businesses face losses and residents raise health concerns

Dargaville water crisis: Businesses face losses and residents raise health concerns

31 May 12:09 AM
Premium
KiwiSaver changes 'a burden' for small businesses and self-employed

KiwiSaver changes 'a burden' for small businesses and self-employed

22 May 08:00 PM
Premium
Liam Dann: Upbeat Treasury forecasts GDP growth, rising house prices

Liam Dann: Upbeat Treasury forecasts GDP growth, rising house prices

22 May 05:39 AM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP