Why Fonterra accepted defeat in the dairy aisle
OPINION: Fonterra's sale of its consumer dairy business to Lactalis is a clear sign of the co-operative’s failure to compete in the branded consumer market.
Fonterra has started supplying fresh milk to Australian supermarket chain Woolworths from its new multi-million plant in Cobden, western Victoria.
The plant was commissioned last week and will supply Woolworths Select own-brand milk in Victoria for 10 years.
Fonterra Australia managing director Judith Swales says the plant starts a new era at the Cobden site – “an important milestone for our Australian business and a key pillar of our strategy”.
The plant expansion will generate 50 new jobs and benefit the local community and the co-op’s farmers. It will process up to 100 million litres of milk each year.
The long-term agreement with Woolworths provides certainty for our farmers that they will have a home for their milk, says Swales.
“Everyone involved in the Cobden expansion has done an exceptional job readying the site.”
Over the next four weeks the plant will increase production of Woolworths Select milk for sale across Victoria. It will be officially launched in September.
Australian dairy farmers have welcomed the commissioning of the plant.
Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) president Noel Campbell says he expects the benefits of the long term contract to flow through to the farmers’ bottom line.
“The duration of Woolworth’s commitment with Fonterra Australia is welcome. Retail contracts with this sort of longevity provide milk processors with the security and certainty they require to invest in the industry’s capability and growth.
“The ten year contract also gives Fonterra the option to provide longer term contracts to their suppliers. Farmers are always more willing to invest onfarm when they have a certain destination for their product.”
Campbell says ADF would continue to monitor farm gate returns for farmers supplying fresh milk contracts and he encouraged all Australians to buy branded products to support Australian dairy farmers.
Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.
OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
'Common sense' cuts to government red tape will make it easier for New Zealand to deliver safe food to more markets.
Balclutha farmer Renae Martin remembers the moment she fell in love with cows.
Academic freedom is a privilege and it's put at risk when people abuse it.
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…