US licence loss won’t affect Lichfield plant

Fonterra has lost its multimillion-dollar cheese market in the United States but it is not expected to impact the Lichfield factory.

Fonterra’s director of global ingredients, Kelvin Wickham, confirmed Fonterra (USA) had not renewed the licences.

‘‘Due to human error, a deadline was missed which meant that Fonterra (USA) failed to apply in time for licences to import New Zealand cheese into the USA in 2015.’’

He would not put a value on US exports, citing commercial sensitivity, but ASB economist Nathan Penny said New Zealand’s total cheese exports to the US were $11 million a year, or 4 per cent of the country’s total global cheese exports.

Lichfield has been deemed the second largest cheese factory within Fonterra and Wickham said it would not be affected.

‘‘‘Fonterra has reached commercial arrangements with other New Zealand cheese licence holders to ensure that we can meet our planned 2015 New Zealand cheese orders in the USA. The financial impact is limited and our 2015 sales will not be impacted.’’