Tuesday, 24 January 2017 12:55

Fonterra rolls out white butter for Middle East

Written by 
Fonterra has developed a new white butter to meet Middle Eastern demand. Fonterra has developed a new white butter to meet Middle Eastern demand.

Fonterra has developed a new white butter product to meet growing demand from manufacturers in the Middle East.

Although Fonterra’s butter is known by Middle East consumers for its golden appearance, because of grass fed cows, a niche group of manufacturers prefer white butter as a processing ingredient for their food products.

These Middle Eastern food manufacturers have traditionally used butter from grain fed cows, a product with a pale colour.

Fonterra’s dairy foods category director of NZMP, Casey Thomas, says Fonterra developed the white butter by a process that reduces its golden appearance without affecting its quality.

“We saw an opportunity to tap into this new area for customers to use it in applications such as spreadable jar cheese, recombined cream cheese, and it could soon be used in ice cream.” NZMP general manager of Middle East and Africa, Santiago Aon said, “This is already seeing strong results. Our customers have had positive feedback about the white butter; it is performing to our expectations.”

With the co-op’s R&D centre, NZMP is behind the new product; both have a history of partnering with customers to create business solutions with them.

The product is now available in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bahrain, Turkey and Pakistan. It may be launched in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and South America.

More like this

Winston Peters questions Fonterra divestment plan

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.

Editorial: A new era for two co-ops

OPINION: Farmer shareholders of two of New Zealand's largest co-operatives have an important decision to make this month and what they decide could change the landscape of the dairy and meat sectors in New Zealand.

Should co-op sell its consumer brands?

OPINION: As CEO of the Dairy Board in the 1980s I was fortunate to work with a team of experienced and capable executives who made most of the brand investments that created the international consumer business Fonterra inherited. Soprole in Chile was the largest, but there were more than 20 countries where consumer marketing companies were established and Anchor and other brands were successfully launched.

Featured

'One more push' to eliminate FE

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.

Winston Peters questions Fonterra divestment plan

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.

National

Machinery & Products

New McHale terra drive axle option

Well-known for its Fusion baler wrapper combination, Irish manufacturer McHale has launched an interesting option at the recent Irish Ploughing…

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Tough times

OPINION: Dairy industry players are also falling by the wayside as the economic downturn bites around the country.

MSA triumph

OPINION: Methane Science Accord, a farmer-led organisation advocating for zero tax on ruminant methane, will be quietly celebrating its first…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter