In December last year, Winston entered the global infant formula market, shipping its first containers to Hong Kong.
The Mt Wellington plant was taken over from Danone in August 2016, extensively upgraded and commissioned last year.
Winston Nutritional general manager Leon Fung says with modern equipment and technology, the plant is ready to produce 20,000 tonnes of formulated powder products annually.
“We are excited and looking forward to building our dairy products business worldwide,” he told Dairy News.
Dairy is an important new focus for Winston Nutrional’s parent company Hai Feng group, which is headquartered in Hong Kong.
For five years it has sold Hoeslandt infant formula in the China market, including Hong Kong and Macau, which has been made in Europe and Australia. Production will soon shift to Winston Nutritional’s plant at Mt Wellington.
A new brand is being developed for the global market in the meantime; Winston has applied its current brand registrations in China and accreditation for CNCA and CFDA certification is progressing well.
The company is also fast-tracking export opportunities in South East Asia, North America, Middle East and Europe.
Winston Nutritional also plans to move beyond infant formula, into making and selling nutritional foods: due for launch later this year is an innovative supplement product range for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
“With our new production line commissioned we’re seeing increasing enquiries from many different customers and markets,” Fung says. “It’s an encouraging start to fulfilling our ambition to be an exporter to the world.”
New equipment at the plant includes RA Jones modified atmosphere packaging plant, an Eagle Vision 360-degree visual inspection system, a Swiss Ferrum seamer and a Hamson case packer from Canada.
Fung says the company’s board chose New Zealand for its first overseas investment after careful study.
“We prioritised our own source of premium dairy products so we can manage product quality throughout the supply chain,” he says.
“New Zealand was chosen because it has good food resources and an excellent reputation for high quality and safety; the Chinese market regards New Zealand food very highly.”
Rich history
The Winston Nutritional plant in Mt Wellington, Auckland made history when it launched NZ’s first Karicare infant formula.
It was built in the early 1990s by Douglas Pharmaceuticals, making the well-known formula brand Karicare, which originated in a formula developed by Sir Truby King, a child health reformer and founder of Plunket. In 2007 the factory became part of the Danone group, before being acquired by Winston.
Leon Fung says as new owner of the manufacturing plant, Winston Nutritional is continuing a high standard of manufacturing at the site.
