DAIRY FEATURE
20 AUGUST 2018
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Phone: 09 633 0071 Fax: 09 633 0072
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COOLING TOWERS
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Consumption
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Counter Flow
And Closed
Circuit
• Containerised
Towers
WATER CHILLERS
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• Fixed Or Portable
• 7.5 To 1500kW Cooling capacity
FT223
Fonterra is welcoming the
appointment of Bao Xiufei as
general manager of Beingmate
Baby & Child Food, saying
farmers and unit holders are
expecting a lift in the company
partially owned by the dairy
giant. Chief executive Theo
Spierings says influencing
the right transformation
steps through its 18%
shareholding has been a top
priority, and the appointment
is the first of three key steps
communicated to Beingmate
earlier in the year as part of its
transformation plan. Fonterra
bought its shareholding in
2015 for $755 million as
part of its move into China’s
second and third tier cities,
but had to write it down by
$405 million when Beingmate
reported “unacceptable”
losses. Spierings says the next
priorities will be for the new
general manager to unlock
Beingmate’s distribution
network and take the right
actions to meet Chinese
customers’ preferences for
e-commerce. “There are a
number of opportunities to
reverse Beingmate’s current
performance and we look
forward to working with Mr
Bao and seeing Beingmate
fulfil its potential.” Bao
joins Beingmate from Royal
FrieslandCampina China,
where he most recently held
the position of Friso chief
sales officer and consumer
dairy managing director. Prior
to this, he was the sales
director at Wyeth Nutrition and
held senior roles at PepsiCo
and Wahaha Food Group.
AgResearch scientists will work
alongside those at the Auckland
University’s Liggins Institute - with
support from Spring Sheep Milk
Co and Blue River Dairy – to find
out whether sheep milk can offer
advantages for those suffering from
digestive issues with other milk
types. AgResearch senior scientist
Dr Linda Samuelsson says the
research comes at a time of rapid
growth for the dairy sheep industry,
and sheep milk could be easier
to digest and provide improved
nutrition. “We will be working with
people who say they have some
difficulty digesting milk. They will
be asked to consume a specified
amount, and we’ll be looking
at how they feel after drinking,
and measuring their digestion
using blood and breath tests.”
Spring Sheep Milk marketing and
innovation director Andrea Wilkins
says a recent study compared the
protein digestibility of sheep and
cow milk - with results suggesting
sheep milk proteins are more
readily digested and are a better
source of essential amino acids.
“Taking into account the research
to date, along with consumer
feedback we’ve received, we
know that sheep’s milk is great for
those who are sensitive to cow’s
milk. So, we’re really excited about
what this clinical trial means for
us and for the New Zealand sheep
milk industry as a whole.” Liggins
Institute research fellow Dr Amber
Milan says the trial subjects will be
asked to drink both sheep and cow
milk. “Sheep milk is very different
from cow milk. We know that it
has more nutrients per glass: more
protein, fat, vitamins and minerals,”
she says. “For example, sheep
milk has almost twice the level of
calcium and zinc, when compared
to cow milk. There are also
differences in the protein and fat
types which we think will alter the
digestive properties of sheep milk.
New Zealand now boasts more
than 20,000 sheep for milking at 16
different producers, and significant
new investment is going into milk
processing and supply to overseas
markets. Sheep milk products from
New Zealand are currently being
exported to growth markets such
as China, Taiwan, Malaysia and
Vietnam. Blue River Dairy marketing
and supply chain manager Gareth
Lyness says there is already a latent
awareness of the benefits of sheep
milk. “Asian consumers express
these benefits in terms of how
much ‘heat’ the milk brings to our
bodies; Sheep milk is understood to
‘create less inner heat’ than other
milks, meaning it is gentler on the
digestive system.” Results from
the trial should be available early
next year.
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/
en/liggins/in-the-community/
clinical-studies/clinical-studiesadults/
shindig-study.html
GIANT
WELCOMES
NEW BLOOD
MOO…
BAA?
New Zealand will continue its
groundbreaking work in dairy
products when AgResearch
starts a world-first clinical trial
to test the benefits of sheep
milk for human digestion.
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