Just outside Amsterdam a Fonterra sign is emblazoned on the exterior wall of what looks like a typical food processing plant.
Heerenveen, a 50:50 joint venture business with Dutch cheese manufacturer A-Ware, was built in 2014 and is the New Zealand dairy co-operative’s only European dairy factory.
A-Ware has the connections with suppliers and sources and transports the milk, but the liquid whey that is surplus to its cheese process is pumped through a wall to the Fonterra side of the factory.
Callum Lott, Fonterra’s manager of trade strategy, sustainability and stakeholder affairs for Europe, Middle East, Africa, said Fonterra dries it and turns it into high-value protein powder and lactose, which it sells throughout Europe. Lott told Farmers Weekly that the linkages with A-Ware don’t end there.
The partnership also produces UHT cream, which is sold in markets including in China and southeast Asia.
Fonterra also has a regional office in Amsterdam, staffed by 67 people.
More: Wallace is visiting seven countries in six weeks to report on market sentiment, a trip made possible with grants from Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Alliance, Beef + Lamb NZ, NZ Meat Industry Association and Rabobank. Read more about his findings here.
In Focus Podcast | Methane busting in the Netherlands
Reporter Neal Wallace checks in from Amsterdam and tells Bryan about his visits to Wageningen University and to a Dutch dairy farm. He says the methane research going on there is promising and NZ farmers should be aware that emissions efficiencies are improving in the EU and other key food producing countries.
