www.foodtechnology.co.nz 43
DAIRY PARTNERSHIP
DAIRY COLLABORATION FOR
KAWERAU
Eleven Maori Bay of Plenty entities have
partnered with Japanese food company
Imanaka to establish a $32 million milk
processing plant in Kawarau to start
making expensive niche foods by early
next year.
The Kawarau Dairy collaboration – which
sees the Maori organisations owning 66%
of the venture – will follow the model of
the Miraka milk company near Taupo, which
uses power supplied from Maori geothermal
assets, milk sourced primarily from local Maori
farms and finance from an overseas food group
as a cornerstone shareholder. Project co-ordinator
Richard Jones says the collaboration will
see Maori entities and farms coming together,
investing and supplying milk, learning about the
whole value chain rather than “just being suppliers
of milk and not having anything to do with it
after that.” Kawerau Dairy’s product mix will be
different to Miraka’s - complementary rather than
competing - with both leveraging their cultural
identity, he says. Stage one of the project will see
the development of an 800kg per hour drier to
process conventional cow milk and organic cow
milk into high-value products, which is expected
to produce milk protein concentrate 85 (a soluble
powder consisting of 85% protein and low levels
of lactose) for use as an ingredient in health
drinks and foodstuffs, as well as organic whole
milk powder, skim milk powders and organic
milk protein concentrate. The Organic Dairy
Hub will supply milk to the plant, and will help
any of the 12 Maori shareholder farms convert
to organics. The second stage will involve the
development of another drier to process goat
and sheep milk, with the possibility of producing
plant-based milk from oats and butter. Over a
season, the plant is expected to produce more
than 8000 metric tonnes of dried milk products.
Developed on land owned by Putauaki Trust, the
plant’s principal energy supply will come from
the Ngati Tuwharetoa Geothermal Assets-owned
geothermal network, along with solar energy.
Jones says Kawerau Dairy will benefit from its
Japanese shareholder’s food processing experience,
and Imanaka will also be a customer for the
dairy company, helping get its products to Japan
and possibly China with its existing market links.
Japan and the US will be Kawerau Dairy’s key
export markets initially, and it may also sell into
the local market, Jones says, with around 30
direct jobs created initially.“That’s one of the key
drivers. The shareholders want to help create
employment around the Eastern Bay of Plenty region.”
Cedenco (a subsidiary of Imanaka) already
owns vegetable processing, marine farming and
mussel processing operations in New Zealand.
It will also be a customer for the dairy company,
helping get its products to Japan. New Zealand
managing director Tim Chrisp says: “Our
Japanese parents Imanaka have a thriving dairy
products business and a longstanding interest in
investing in the New Zealand dairy industry. The
investment is a great fit for the Cedenco group
alongside our food manufacturing interests in
horticulture and aquaculture.” The Maori entities
who are collaborating for the project include Te
Manawa o Tuhoe, Maori Investments, Putauaki
Trust, Ngati Makino, Rotoiti 15, Tataiwhetu Lands
Trust, Tapuika Holdings Ltd, Rotoma No.1 Inc,
Wharepi Whanau Trust, Omataroa Rangitaiki
No.2 Trust and Poutama.
www.poutama.co.nz/innovative-in-kawerau
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