Saturday, 21 December 2024 16:55

New UHT plant construction starts

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Fonterra employees, community representatives, and local iwi celebrated the start of the project. Fonterra employees, community representatives, and local iwi celebrated the start of the project.

Construction is underway at Fonterra’s new UHT cream plant at Edendale, Southland following a groundbreaking ceremony recently.

Fonterra employees, community representatives, and local iwi celebrated the start of a project with cultural advisor Matu Coleman-Clark blessing the site and project team before the turning of the first sod.

The new UHT plant, which will meet growing demand across Asia is scheduled to begin production in August 2026, initially delivering over 50 million litres of UHT cream annually, with plans to more than double that capacity by 2030. Seventy new roles will be created along with those generated through the construction phase. 

General manager operations, Lower South Island, Andrew Johns, shared his enthusiasm with the group at the event, saying that starting construction marks the first chapter in a long-planned project.

“It’s fantastic to see all the planning and hard mahi come together, and we’re eager to watch the build take shape in the coming months. The new plant is a big investment in our future here at Edendale, and we’re looking forward to seeing the positive impact on our community as a whole as construction progresses.”

Around $150 million dollars will be invested in the expansion which is part of the co-operative’s strategy to grow further value by expanding its Foodservice business in and beyond China and increasing production capacity for high-value products.

More like this

Featured

Southland Farmers Face Wet Weather Toll, Support Available

Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.

How Wearable Tech Powers This 1,850-Cow Dairy Farm

For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.

New Dairy Welfare Code Released, Takes Effect 2027

The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter