Fonterra’s Best Site Cup celebrates the manufacturing teams

Fonterra’s General Manager of Operations Warren Baddeley says he's "super proud" of the manufacturing teams. Photo / Christine Cornege

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The Country Sport Breakfast catches up with the team at Fonterra, today host Brian Kelly is joined by Warren Baddeley, Fonterra’s General Manager of Operations.

“So, Warren, last week I talked about winter shut at Fonterra’s sites and I hear it’s also been a time of celebration for Fonterra’s manufacturing sites,” Kelly said.

“We recently held our 18th annual Best Site Cup awards here in Auckland and the evening brought together about 200 site representatives to celebrate the hard mahi from the past dairy season,” Baddeley said.

“We have a 7000-strong team working on our manufacturing sites across the country, and the Best Site Cup is a great opportunity to recognise their efforts.”

This year Fonterra gave out 21 awards in a range of areas like sustainability, people culture, innovation, efficiency and consumer service.

Some of the recipients of the 21 awards were:

Sustainability Cup and Greater China Star Cheese Award

Clandeboye in South Canterbury won the Sustainability Cup for their work in the sustainability space, showing excellent progress in water reduction across the site, as well as a significant reduction in solid waste to landfill. The site also took home the Greater China Star Cheese Award.

Best Small Site Cup

As a consistent performer, from the top of the South Island, the Tākaka site took home the Best Small Site Cup. They’ve had a solid season, demonstrating their value as an unwaveringly reliable site during peak milk season, while also achieving their sustainability targets.

The People Cup and Best Medium Site

In the North Island, The Waitoa site took out two awards during the evening, including the People Cup and Best Medium Site. The site was recognised for its exceptional performance and unwavering commitment to people – with a focus on strengthening diversity with the development of future female leaders.

Listen below:

Kelly asked what was a highlight at the awards this year.

“This year it was the South Island’s time to shine,” Baddeley said.

“The big winner of the night was Southland’s Darfield, who scooped up three awards – the Best Large Site Cup, the Customer Cup and the Greater China Star Milk Powder Award.

“The Darfield team was recognised for their exceptional progress in the sustainability space, and showcasing strong improvements throughout the year, particularly in energy and waste to landfill.

“Their strong commitment to customers and great performance in the China market in FY24 are also reasons why Darfield was selected for the Customer and Greater China Star Milk Powder Award.

“Overall, Best Site Cup Awards are all about celebrating the amazing work our teams do every day and everything we’ve achieved together.

“The awards show how dedicated everyone is to ongoing improvement, efficiency, and staying sustainable, so I’m super proud of what our sites have achieved.”