NEWS
SNIPS
Sheep may be
considered a
meat and wool
source only, but
they are actually
a three-product
animal when you
consider milk,
Sheep Dairy New
Zealand says
Ecotain - a
plantain that
starts life as a
common weed
and significantly
reduces nitrogen
leaching on
livestock farms
- has been
recognised for
its contribution
to the future of
farming at 2018
Fieldays
Meat processor
and exporter
Anzco Foods has
reported a 90%
freefall in pre-tax
profit to $1.8m
from $17m the
year before, citing
a tough year for
beef processing
as a reason
Butchers across
the country are
fine tuning their
best sausage
recipes in the
hopes of winning
the Devro Great
New Zealand
Sausage
Competition, with
entries closing on
August 17
DOC is changing
a Certificate of
Export service
it provides to
businesses
exporting deer
and other animal
products.
DEER MILK
EXCITING
Pāmu’s focus on innovation in the
food business has been recognised
at the 50th Fieldays, winning the
Innovation Grassroots award with its
ground-breaking deer milk product.
After three years of trial and testing
with Gore farmer partners Sharon and
Peter McIntyre, deer milk is innovation
that the agriculture sector needs to
invest in for competitiveness, Pāmu
chief executive Steve Carden says. “As
an industry, agriculture needs to be
changing and evolving what we produce
in response to consumer demand.
Pāmu deer milk is one of the ways that
Pāmu is investing in innovation, with
like-minded partners, to take the milk
industry forward.” While still early days
for the product, Pāmu is looking at how
to enhance shareholder value – not just
by being a price-taker at the farm gate,
but adding value right along the food
chain. “Partnerships such as the one we
have with the McIntyre’s are a key part
of that strategy. We are seeing a unique
product like Pāmu deer milk turned into
the sort of potentially high-value, niche
export product that is the ‘holy grail’
for the primary sector. It provides an
earnings multiplier way above selling
the product at the farm gate. We believe
we are on the cusp of something very
exciting,” Carden says.
NEWS
NEW PLANT ANNOUNCED
Synlait will commission its new $250
million nutritional manufacturing site at
Pokeno for the 2019/20 season, and has
already expanded its nutritional spray
dryer as a result of forecast customer
demand. Milk supply will be sourced
from the Waikato region from June
next year, and Synlait will grow its a2
Milk and Lead with Pride programmes
through new suppliers, focusing first on
producing infant-grade ingredients while
regulatory registration is obtained for
infant formula base powder production.
Chief executive John Penno says the
company has the capital required to fund
the programme now through a combination
of cashflow and an increased bank
revolver facility. “Our immediate focus is
on establishing the nutritional spray dryer
and associated services, including a wetmix
kitchen and warehousing,” he says.
“But additional capacity and capabilities
may be added in future as Synlait seeks
to develop the site to a similar level as
Synlait’s Dunsandel site over time.”
The nutritional spray dryer will be capable
of producing a full suite of nutritional, formulated
powders (including infant-grade
skim milk, whole milk and infant formula
base powders) and the capacity has
increased to 45,000 metric tonnes from
an initial 40,000. The initial capital investment
of $250 million excludes the land
previously acquired. “We’ve had a really
positive response from dairy farmers
looking to supply Synlait, so we’re confident
of securing sufficient milk for the
2019 / 2020 season,” the company’s milk
supply manager David Williams says.
“This was reinforced with our presence at
Fieldays at Mystery Creek. It was great to
meet a number of passionate dairy farmers
who are serious about doing more
with their milk and adding value on farm,
which is exactly what we do.”
The company is urging anyone interested
in supplying Synlait Milk to register their
interest on 0800 ADD VALUE or at
www.synlait.com.
A new report into New Zealand’s organic sector shows
that Kiwi food developers and manufacturers have
a valuable opportunity before them that they need
to take seriously. The independent research shows
the organic food market is worth $600 million a year,
buoyed by consumer demand here and overseas,
and retail sales of organic product are growing twice
as fast as conventional foods – up 8.8% to $245m.
Organics Aotearoa NZ chief executive Brendan Hoare
says more than three-quarters of Kiwi consumers
are buying organic fresh, frozen or packaged food
and beauty products at least fortnightly, half of them
because of concerns for the environment and sustainability.
“The world wants what New Zealand has to offer,
and we have the capability to grow our share of the
global market where the organic food segment alone
is worth EUR85b and is growing at 10.5 per cent a
year,” Hoare says. Exports are also booming, up 42%
since 2015 to $355 million. “The 2018 report findings
are an opportunity lying before us,” Hoare says.
LOUD AND CLEAR
6 JULY 2018
/www.synlait.com
