Open Country opens butter plant
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
Addressing the co-op’s annual meeting in Christchurch this morning, he says the changes re-shape the co-op toward its comparative advantages.
“What this means is a more capital-efficient co-op with the ability to invest further in upstream value add opportunities in our speciality ingredients and foodservice businesses,” says McBride.
Fonterra has announced investments in its manufacturing and supply chain, making the business well positioned to service the demand that sales teams are driving in-market.
McBride told shareholders at the meeting that next year they would see a continued focus on getting the basics right.
“We will be working hard on tighter cost management, reducing our cost of quality and improving our manufacturing efficiency.
“And second, a renewed focus on sustainable growth and new opportunities in our ingredients and foodservice businesses. You will see the co-op continuing to invest further up the value chain.
“Those investments will be within regional New Zealand, where our contribution to local communities will remain significant.
“With the Co-op’s foundations well set and our risk appetite better aligned to an intergenerational farming business, it’s time to put more energy into going after these growth opportunities,” he says.
McBride also provided an update on the $4.2 billion sale of the co-op’s global consumer businesses to Lactalis
Background work is continuing to secure the last regulatory approvals and to separate the Mainland Group business from Fonterra.
Some of the regulatory approvals required have been obtained, including approval from the Overseas Investment Office in New Zealand, which Lactalis confirmed they received last week.
McBride says other regulatory approvals are still pending.
“Subject to these steps being achieved, we still expect the transaction to complete in the first half of the 2026 calendar year, and we are still targeting a tax-free capital return of $2 per share to shareholders and unit holders once the sale is complete.”
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