Cream cheese in tea a trend setter It’s all about the red meat and science story
A ‘‘tea macchiato’’ that combines tea, cream and cream cheese is among ‘‘bold’’ new ways that Chinese are using dairy products and is driving Fonterra’s decision to build two new cream cheese plants at Darfield, Canterbury at a cost of $150 million.
Fonterra’s director of global foodservice, Grant Watson, said Chinese consumers had ‘‘fewer preconceived notions’’ about how dairy products should be eaten because up until now they had not been a staple in the diet.
Drinks such as tea macchiato – which mixes tea with cream and cream cheese – are evidence of a willingness to be ‘‘bolder’’ with dairy applications, Watson said.
‘‘Arguably some of the most innovative dairy product development anywhere in the world is happening right now in China and, through our Anchor food professionals team and their engagement with our customers, we’re playing an integral role.’’
Fonterra chief operating officer - global operations, Robert Spurway said a lot of food eaten in China included dairy. ‘‘There is a very strong Asian baking channel that includes a lot of dairy products. In particular we are seeing cream cheese going into cheese cakes.
A Fonterra spokesman said the macchiato tea was ‘‘delicious.’’
‘‘There were a couple of different flavours that I tried. I had a white peach along with sea salt, which was fantastic. As a consumer you have the opportunity to choose the flavour of tea you want and then the flavour of the topping which contains the cream cheese.’’ Usually another topping on top of that such as chocolate is added.
Selwyn MP Amy Adams and Selwyn District Council Mayor Sam Broughton joined Fonterra management last Friday in turning the first sod on the new build.
The first plant is due to be completed by August 2018 with a second to follow in either 2019 or 2020. Each will churn out 24,000 tonnes of cream cheese a year, all for export. More than 30 new jobs would be created and up to 1000 people involved in the construction, planning and fit out.
Spurway said the investment demonstrated its strategy to deliver better returns to farmers. ‘‘Projects like these are great examples of how we’re keeping pace with customer preference.’’
Fonterra already produces cream cheese at its Te Rapa site, but the Darfield plants will rival its production. The co-op’s consumer and food service business leaped by 30 per cent to pre-tax and interest earnings of $313m for the first half of this financial year. Farmers need to grasp the art of story telling backed with science, says Beef+Lamb New Zealand chief executive Sam McIvor.
They need to tell the story of New Zealand beef and lamb in a way that sets it apart from its competitors and resonates with its customers, he said.
‘‘The story is not going to be straight forward as internationally there are others countries that include open spaces, clean and green, grass fed, sustainable and animal welfare in their story.
‘‘The story is not sufficient by itself. We must support our claims with hard data,’’ said McIvor to a 250 people audience at the Beef +Lamb FarmSmart event in Christchurch.
The remarkable story of New Zealand’s red meat industry began in 1990, he said.
‘‘Before that, 1980 was from a sheep industry perspective, the peak of sheep, driven by a bunch of perverse government incentives that bore little resemblance to what the market wanted,’’ he said.
‘‘In the 1980s New Zealand found itself with 70 million sheep and an extremely depressed international market. It was whole-carcass based and almost solely focused on the United Kingdom.
‘‘Farmers became focused on what they were producing with dramatic improvements in productivity. This was illustrated best by New Zealand’s lambing percentage which went from 100 per cent to the 125 per cent it is today.
‘‘Additionally, farmers have increased the lambs weaned per ewe wintered by 106 per cent. This is quite remarkable.
‘‘Farmers now use fewer resources to do this and have maintained the amount of meat produced with half the number of sheep.
‘‘And this has been achieved on 23 per cent less land. About one million hectares has gone into reserve, and another one million has been converted into other farming uses.
‘‘But the next step is to develop that ‘big idea,’ that unique story that will set New Zealand apart internationally,’’ McIvor said.