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.
The West Coast-based milk processor has been working with MPI and Chinese authorities and has been notified of its registration with the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA).
"We support the Chinese moves to impose greater controls and stricter standards around the importation of infant formula. Ultimately this will benefit New Zealand exporters by giving Chinese consumers more confidence in our products" says Westland chief executive Rod Quin.
Quin says Chinese authorities have been signalling the changes for some months, and Westland has been working closely with authorities to ensure the company is well prepared to meet any new requirements.
"Westland is different to some of the other major New Zealand exporters of infant formula in that we do not, as yet, export branded consumer goods," Quin says. "Rather, we produce and sell ingredient base powders, which are sold to customers in New Zealand and offshore, including China for further processing and packing. Nevertheless as a manufacturer we are still required to be registered with CNCA. We were included in the recent Chinese audit visits to New Zealand infant nutrition manufacturers and we are very pleased to have achieved registration."
Quin says the new Chinese regulations support Westland's recently announced decision to invest in new $102 million infant nutritional product manufacturing capacity at the Hokitika site.
"In fact, the implementation of these new regulations provides clarity for our industry that, in turn, gives certainty to our customers. For Westland this lends significant support to our strategic move into the high added value nutritional products portfolio."
