Fonterra Dairy Ingredients Plant

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Fonterra commissioned its new dairy ingredients plant in the Netherlands in February 2015. Credit: Business Wire. Fonterra processes the highest amount of milk in the world. Credit: Fonterra. Fonterra is a leading supplier of dairy ingredient products worldwide. Credit: Fonterra. Fonterra Co-operative Group, a dairy firm based in New Zealand, began operations at its newly constructed dairy ingredients plant in Heerenveen town located north of the Netherlands in February 2015. The new plant is Fonterra’s first wholly-owned and operated ingredients plant in Europe, developed in collaboration with A-ware Food Group, a cheese manufacturer based in the Netherlands. The plant produces speciality milk ingredients including whey and lactose that will be used in the production of nutrition products such as high-value paediatric, maternal and sports nutrition products. With this investment, Fonterra aims to strengthen its ability to deliver high-quality products to European customers and global consumers. The plant currently employs 50 workers. Fonterra partnered with A-ware Food Group to develop two separate but mutually beneficial neighbouring plants in Heerenveen in March 2013. According to the agreement, the partnership had to develop a cheese plant and a dairy ingredients plant on a 25ha greenfield site in Heerenveen. The main reason for establishing the two plants on the same site is to allow Fonterra to use liquid whey from A-ware’s cheese production plant in the production of dairy ingredients. The cheese plant, commissioned in December 2014, is being operated by A-ware Food Group and produces cheese for its European customers. The dairy ingredients plant is owned and operated by Fonterra and produces whey and lactose, which will be further processed into premium nutrition products. The partnership allows Fonterra to access 600 to 800 million litres of milk in the European market, while it enables A-ware to expand its service offering to the growing European customer base. The new plant operates around the clock throughout the year to produce whey protein concentrates (WPC80), whey protein isolates (WPI) and lactose. It is designed to produce 5,000-6,000 metric ton (mt) of WPC80 and approximately 25,000mt of lactose a year. In addition, the plant also produces 100,000mt of Gouda cheese and is equipped to process derived whey solids. Whey protein concentrates and isolates production and benefits. Whey protein concentrates and isolates are manufactured from fresh cheese or acid whey using an ultra-filtration process. They are typically processed at low temperatures to retain nutritional and functional properties. Whey proteins provide functional benefits such as emulsifying, foaming and water binding and are used in a variety of food applications including beverages, yoghurts and dairy desserts. Fonterra is a global dairy ingredients firm owned by local farmers in New Zealand. It is the world’s biggest milk processor, producing more than two million tonnes of dairy ingredients every year. It established a strong presence with a number of brands in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

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