Fonterra Expands Its Organic Milk Business to Meet Growing Consumer Demand
The New Zealand dairy giant says more people are choosing organic dairy products and it expects the trend to continue, especially in Asia.
Source: Fonterra
Fonterra will expand its organic milk business to help meet growing demand, the New Zealand dairy giant said today.
The decision follows Fonterra’s recent review on how best to position this specialty business for sustained growth.
At meetings with farmers this week, Fonterra’s global business manager for Organics, Craig Deadman, said the Co-operative is committed to developing its organic milk supply over the long term to meet escalating demand.
“Following our review, we have refreshed our growth strategy to enable us to grow the business, profitably and sustainably,” Deadman said. “This strategy reflects the volumes our customers have indicated they need to satisfy increasing demand for organic dairy.”
Fonterra is also increasing the total certified organic payment to $1.50 per kg milk solids from
June 1, 2015. This reflects a new farmer payment of an additional 45 cents per kgMS to contribute to the costs of maintaining organic certification, in addition to the certified organic milk premium of $1.05 per kgMS.
Deadman said that, while organic dairy remains a specialty product, more people are choosing organic dairy products and he expects this trend to continue, particularly in South-East Asia, China and in the United States.
“Chinese consumers are quickly developing a strong liking for organic dairy and organic options are always welcomed.”
Deadman said that Asian consumers also favor organic milk powders, especially infant formula and fortified milk powders. “We have recently launched Anchor organic milk powder in China and it is already proving very popular with shoppers there,” he said.
Growing Fonterra’s Organics business is all about developing and selling higher-value specialty products at premium market rates. “This approach enables all Fonterra farmers to benefit from heightened returns,” he said.
Fonterra is a global leader in dairy nutrition and a supplier of dairy ingredients to many of the world’s leading food companies. Fonterra is also a market leader with its own consumer and foodservice dairy brands in Australia/New Zealand, Asia/Africa, Middle East and Latin America.
The farmer-owned New Zealand co-operative is the largest processor of milk in the world, producing more than 2 million tons of dairy ingredients, specialty ingredients, foodservice products and consumer products every year.
