What Would Synlait Be Worth to Fonterra or a2 Milk?
Speculation of a possible joint move by Fonterra and a2 Milk to buy Synlait raises a much bigger strategic question, says agribusiness expert Dr Nic Lees.
At peak Studholme's drier usually processes 900,000 litres of milk per day, converting 625 litres of milk into about 260kg of milk powder every minute.
Fonterra managing director NZ Milk Products Gary Romano says Studholme is a good example of the co-op's Strategy Refresh in action.
"Growing milk volumes and optimising our manufacturing assets is a key part of our strategy to drive better returns to our farmers. Alan and his team are doing exactly that."
Fonterra Studholme site manager Alan Maitland says during the record week last month the drier operated 24 hours per day with no downtime.
"The record is an outstanding achievement and testament to the hard work of the 45 staff at Studholme," says Maitland.
"Our drier was only designed to produce 5MT per hour and we've managed to run it at 5.5MT per hour. This comes down to team work, skill and the meticulous planning prior to commencing production this season.
"People are really engaged on site. We've invested a lot of time to ensure the new team has a thorough understanding of the Fonterra Way, which is all about using our collective wisdom to make continuous improvements," Maitland says.
Sarah Cunningham, one of the site's advanced operators who has been at Studholme since its beginning, says it has been reassuring to become a part of the Fonterra family.
"A lot of effort was made to ensure we were prepared for the new season and, with a proactive approach to problem solving, it's been a fantastic start to the season" she says.
"At the end of the day we're all passionate about dairy. We love the industry and processing milk."
Since its integration into Fonterra's supply chain in August, the site has been Halal-certified and meets all of Fonterra's quality standards.
"We passed all customer audits first time and our quality grading has been 100% since day one."
Studhome produces standard whole milk powder for sale on the GlobalDairyTrade platform. The relatively small size of the drier means it is also well-suited for short and specialised manufacturing runs, if need be.
The 5-year-old plant sits on a 55ha site and has a production capacity of 30,000MT per season.
