Fonterra welcomes NZ-Sri Lanka dairy cooperation arrangement

Fonterra has welcomed a new Dairy Cooperation arrangement between the New Zealand Government and Sri Lankan Government signed by Sri Lankan Minister for External Affairs G.L. Peiris and New Zealand Minister for Foreign Affairs Murray McCully on the sidelnes of the recentlyheld Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Colombo.

Fonterra Director and farmershareholder John Monaghan, who was in Colombo representing Fonterra at the Commonwealth Business Forum in that same week, said the agreement will help formalise and support further public and private sector dairy sector cooperation between the two countries.

“The New Zealand dairy industry and Fonterra have a long history working with the Sri Lankan dairy industry. Today’s agreement signals a clear pathway for the New Zealand Government and Fonterra to significantly increase New Zealand’s investment in dairy development in Sri Lanka over the next decade,” he said in a media release by Fonterra’s Sri Lanka unit.

Mr. Monaghan said as Fonterra expands its business in Sri Lanka the Cooperative is looking at ways it can significantly increase local milk collection to build on its commitment to the local dairy industry.

“Within the framework of this agreement, Fonterra is looking to invest in model farms to both train local farmers as well as provide a sustainable milk source for Fonterra’s fresh dairy business; invest in more milk collection centres around the country to enhance quality milk collection and build on the Farmer Education and Development programme to ensure more farmers are producing larger volumes of high quality milk.”

Leon Clement, Managing Director for Fonterra Brands Lanka said that by working with local farmers to improve the quality of their milk, Fonterra has managed to grow local milk collection to 30,000 litres of locally produced fresh milk, every day.

The New Zealand dairy industry and Fonterra have a long history working with the Sri Lankan dairy industry