Miraka CEO quits
Māori-owned milk processor Miraka is looking for a new chief executive following the resignation of Karl Gradon last week.
The Chinese dairy giant Shanghai Pengxin has contracted Miraka to produce the UHT milk in 250ml branded packs for Chinese consumers.
The Miraka plant has the capacity produce 240 million of the packs annually which requires an additional 60m L of milk to be processed by Miraka in addition to 240m L processed into milk powder.
The new UHT plant cost $27 million.
Miraka chief executive Richard Wyeth says the company has employed 30 extra staff to produce the UHT for Shanghai Pengxin. Some of this milk used in the UHT deal comes from farms owned by Shanghai Pengxin and some from regular Miraka suppliers.
“It’s good to be underway and shipping regularly to our Chinese clients. We had a slower start than I would have liked but that’s the nature of commissioning plants sometimes and we are now up and running and I am happy with the process,” he says.
The UHT plant is designed to take additional Tetrapak lines as markets develop. At present two lines are operating to meet the demand from Shanghai Pengxin. Miraka is seeking to expand its UHT operation in the next two-three years and two extra processing lines are likely to be commissioned.
