Agriculture and Trade Minister Damien O'Connor (left) Fonterra Chairman Peter McBride and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, sampling beverages with Anchor Food Professional Chefs at Fonterra's Shanghai application centre. Photo / Supplied / Fonterra
Agriculture and Trade Minister Damien O'Connor (left) Fonterra Chairman Peter McBride and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, sampling beverages with Anchor Food Professional Chefs at Fonterra's Shanghai application centre. Photo / Supplied / Fonterra
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The annual China Business Summit has been a great opportunity for Fonterra to reconnect with China after the disruption of the Covid pandemic, the co-op’s Trade Strategy Manager, Jimmy Robertson says.
“The event is really relevant for us as a business, considering around about a third of Fonterra’s milk ends up in China,” Robertson told The Country Sport Breakfast’s, Brian Kelly.
There was a wide range of guest speakers at the Summit, which was held on Monday in Auckland, including Wang Xialong, the Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand, and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
Robertson said Hipkins’ connection with Fonterra didn’t stop there either, as the Prime Minister visited one of the co-op’s application centres in Shanghai a few weeks ago, as part of his wider trade delegation to China.
Fonterra has five application centres across China.
They are well-equipped kitchen spaces where the co-op partners with customers to learn about different ways they can use Fonterra’s dairy in their products, Robertson explained.
“Our customers will visit these centres, either in person or virtually, where our team of expert chefs demonstrate how Fonterra products, such as whipping cream or cream cheese, can perform in different applications - from cakes to beverages - and even in Chinese cuisine like dumplings or moon cakes.”
Hipkins’ visit was really successful and very hands-on, Robertson said.
“The Prime Minister even got behind the beverage counter, mixed up a few Chinese tea drinks and gave our chefs a run for their money.”
Robertson said organising this kind of visit took a lot of collaboration - especially with Hipkins’ “absolutely jam-packed” schedule during his week-long agenda in China.
“We’re really thankful for the support and countless hours that go in behind the scenes, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, as well as MPI, to make it all happen.
“For some of our customers, our partners, and even some of our team, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet a Prime Minister.”
Fonterra products on display at the co-op's application centre in Shanghai. Photo / Supplied / Fonterra
The delegation was given “first-class treatment” when moving through the city.
“All the roads are blocked near them to allow the motorcade of cars to move smoothly between venues, which meant for us when arranging a visit to our application centre, we have to work really closely with our local community to minimise disruption for businesses residents and even the local school.
“So, we ended up starting the visit at the crack of dawn to reduce the impact.”
The local government and community in the Jing An district were also “super helpful and really supportive”.
The visit was great exposure for Fonterra both in China and New Zealand, Robertson said.
“The media that flows around the back of the Prime Minister’s visit is huge.
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“Obviously, you’ll have seen it in the news in New Zealand every night on the main media channels - but here in China, it got a lot of emphasis pushed behind it.
“So for us, we saw thousands and thousands of articles out there referencing Fonterra or New Zealand products.”
This in turn flowed through to demand from customers interested in the value the co-op created through partnerships with New Zealand milk, Robertson said.
Overall, Hipkins’ visit demonstrated the importance of New Zealand’s relationship with China.
