New cheese plant rises from fire

Fonterra has opened a new cheese plant at Stanhope in Victoria, Australia two-and-a-half years after a fire destroyed the previous factory.

The new $149 million plant will be able to process up to 1.3 million litres of milk every day and will make a range of hard cheeses including cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella and romano.

Besides producing cheese for the domestic and New Zealand market, the plant will also manufacture cheese for export.

The new factory will be capable of making 45,000 tonnes of cheeses each year, an increase of 15,000 tonnes on the previous plant. The rebuilt and expanded plant created about 30 new jobs on site and would now employ about 150 people. Construction of the factory was part funded by the Victorian Government’s Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund.

The new factory was opened last Friday by Victorian Minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford along with Fonterra leaders, including chairman John Wilson.

Wilson said the investment would support the co-operative to further capture the strong global demand for dairy. ‘‘Australia is a global ingredients hub for Fonterra’s cheese, whey and nutritionals, complementing our consumer and foodservice businesses. Stanhope will help us to meet the growing global demand for cheese that is being driven by a strengthening middle class in our key markets. China alone is already a $4.6 billion market for protein, and is growing at four per cent per annum.’’

The new plant will help to capture growing demand for cheese both domestically and across its export markets in Asia, Fonterra Australia managing director Rene Dedoncker said.