Fonterra research turns 90
Palmerston North is home to one of the world’s largest dairy research and development units and this year it turns 90.
The head of Fonterra Research and Development Centre (FRDC), Mark Piper said the facility started on the Massey University site as the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute in 1927, but moved to its own site a few years later and was renamed the FRDC when Fonterra was formed in 2001.
He said about 300 people worked there, and they were a brainy lot.
‘‘Many are long term employees. In fact our staff has more than 3500 combined years of experience in dairy research and development. We have about 130 Phds and many have masters degree qualifications,’’ Piper said.
There were 46 nationalities among the multi-cultural staff at the site.
‘‘The FRDC is owned by our Fonterra farmers. There are about 10,500 [farmers] and we are looking at improving their returns, not just this year, or next year, but 10 years out, and for the next generation.’’
The Government also provides some funding, through the Primary Growth Partnership.
FRDC had been a success story, he said. During the past 10 years it has had a billion dollars invested in the site and its people and 350 patents across its existence.
‘‘We are researching complex lipids found in milk that may help brain development and function, and proteins that support active lifestyles and medical nutrition. We have taken the existing technology, improved it and developed proteins that are concentrated but can be served as a drink.
‘‘This is important because it means we can get the highest concentration of protein into the smallest amount of liquid. For a patient recovering from surgery who physically can’t take in food or large amounts of liquid this means they can get the goodness of dairy nutrition without the volume.’’
He said other future projects were about reducing sugar in products such as yoghurts, icecreams and beverages but keeping the same mouth feel and taste.
‘‘We are also looking at the way people buy products via the internet. They want traceability, and assurance that their food is safe, nutritious and produced in a sustainable way. Everywhere in the world, consumers are different but we’re finding they all place a value on these things.’’
He said some consumers in China liked cream cheese and cream in their tea and would often queue for hours to get ‘‘tea macchiatos’’. And at a United States trade fair people came to the Fonterra stand to get butter to go in their coffee.
Some of the work it does is at its pilot plant, refining products and finding new ones. A tight lid is kept on some projects so other dairy companies don’t steal their development or research.
Some research is groundbreaking and includes some world ‘‘firsts’’.
‘‘We have developed here, things such as spreadable butter, milk protein concentrates, which are used in cheese, yoghurt, sports nutrition and in pharmaceuticals, to name a few’’.
There is also mozzarella, which is matured in just a few hours, rather than the four months it used to take. The mozzarella keeps all its specifications, but can go to customers much earlier and now tops half of all the pizzas made in China.
‘‘We are never satisfied,’’ said Piper. ‘‘We are thinking of the next thing and what we can do in the future.’’
He also likes Palmerston North where he had worked previously and where his wife had completed her degree. The well travelled couple have six children with one born in Japan, two in the US and three in New Zealand.