Fonterra's Whareroa site opens doors to Taranaki public

The Fonterra Whareroa site will be open to visitors one day this month.

Fonterra Whareroa is inviting Taranaki farmers and members of the local community to come for a first-hand look behind their doors this month.

"This is an open invitation for our local community to see how proud we are of what we do, learn more about the dairy production process and to have some fun at the same time," says operations manager Tony Maclean.

He says there will be guided site tours, some Tip Top and Mainland products to sample and an opportunity to see the team in action.

Whareroa is one of the three largest sites in New Zealand and produces enough product to fill more than three Olympic-sized swimming pools each week.

"Our 1000-strong team process 15 per cent of our dairy production and send 400,000 metric tonnes of milk powder, cheese, cream, protein and lactic casein ingredients to customers overseas and in New Zealand each year," says Tony.

He says the number of people permitted on site tours is limited, so it will be first come, first served on the day. Photos won't be allowed.

Need to know:

* Saturday, April 14. 10am-2pm. Fonterra Whareroa, 84 Whareroa Rd, Hawera
* Site tours will run every 10-15 minutes from 10am, with the last tour departing at 2pm.
* On-site parking is limited, as is off-street parking on Whareroa Rd.

Health and Safety:

Children must be five years of age or over and there must be a one adult to one child ratio. Safety clothing will be provided, but guests must wear flat, closed-toe shoes (not gumboots though).

Guests will need to be of reasonable health as parts of the tour requires guests to climb stairs. There are a few things you can't bring on site, including pushchairs, wheelchairs, assisted walkers, backpacks, handbags and other hand-held items. If you're not wearing it or if it's not in your pocket please leave it at home or in your car.