Hurrell said the Edendale investment was part of the co-operative’s strategy to grow value by expanding its food service business in Asia and increasing production capacity for high-value products.
“Demand for UHT cream continues to strengthen. Globally, we’re expecting demand to increase by more than 4% year on year between 2023 and 2032,” he said.
Today’s and last month’s announcements were about expanding sites to cater for growing demand.
“We believe prioritising our ingredients and food service channels will create more value for Fonterra and this expansion is a good example of the direction the co-op is heading,” Hurrell said.
The new plant will initially create upward of 50m litres of UHT processing capacity with that figure to grow beyond 100m litres by 2030.
Fonterra chief operating officer Anna Palairet said the Edendale site was well set up for future growth.
“Adding to the six new roles created through the recently announced expansion at our Studholme site, we will create an additional 70 new jobs with this new plant at Edendale,” she said.
Additional employment opportunities will also be created through the construction phase, which is scheduled to start early next year. The first product is expected to come off the line in August 2026.
In May, Fonterra said it was looking at full or partial divestment options for some or all of its global consumer business, including well-known brands such as Anchor, and its integrated businesses Fonterra Oceania and Fonterra Sri Lanka after conducting a strategic review.
Fonterra has appointed Jarden, alongside JP Morgan and Craigs Investment Partners, to jointly work as transactional advisers on the divestment process, which is expected to be finalised towards the end of this year.
- Staff Reporter
