Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd.

Company Headquarters: Auckland, New Zealand

Founded: 2001

Workforce: ~19,608

Company Working: Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (Fonterra) is a manufacturer and distributor of dairy products including cheese, lactose, yogurt, butter, milk, milk powders, casein, whey protein, and various other dairy ingredients and products. The company is formed and managed by a group of dairy farmers in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and currently has a network of more than 20,000 dairy farmers & workers. The company has a clientele network spread across 130 countries in the world. Anchor, NZMP, Anmum, Anlene, Anchor Food Professionals, and Farm Source are the range of brands the company is distributing its products. They are a total of 48 manufacturing sites, with the majority of manufacturing sites, 28 located in New Zealand. The global operations are carried out with the help of around 40+ offices present across the regions. Annually, the company collects around 18,455 million liters of milk with major sourcing from New Zealand followed by Australia and the rest of the world.

Dairy Ingredients are sold under the brand New Zealand Milk Products (NZMP) and are presently owned by around 10,000 families involved in dairy farming. The brand’s reaching the global region with the help of its offices situated in 14 locations in compliment with a reselling network in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. NZMP sells dairy ingredients under the categories namely milk powder, protein, specialty, cheese, and dairy fats.

Fonterra Group’s key strategy is the strong focus on its sustainability status marked by the implementation of the Farm Environment Plans that are specific to individual farms in 71% of its dairy farmers which was initially at only 53% in 2021. To reduce the environmental impact, the company has incorporated recyclable material in 89% of its offerings. In order to reduce the carbon footprint the company has initiated several steps including the use of Kowbucha, a fermentation that helps in reducing or eliminating the methane-producing organisms that are present in the ruminant’s digestive system. Another initiative is the use of Asparagopsis, a seaweed supplement that was developed by the company in collaboration with Sea Forest. The seaweed when included in the cattle’s feed helps in reducing the methane further. These sustainable initiatives help in capitalizing on the growing demand for environment-friendly ingredients in the food & beverage industry

Further, the company’s constant participation in events including Food Additives and Ingredients Exhibition (FIC 2023), Snaxpo 2023, Gulfood 2023, Virtual Dairy Summit – APAC 2022, Probiota Americas 2022, Vitafoods 2022, Dairy Innovation Summit 2022, FI Europe 2021 online event, etc. which aids in reaching a new set of client and also helps in better product marketing across the regions. In addition, the company sponsors various technical events related to the dairy industry, for instance, the company has sponsored the Yogurt & Cultured Innovation Conference which helps in showcasing the product portfolio to the food & beverage manufacturers.