Synlait acquires land for second nutritional powder unit in New Zealand

New Zealand-based dairy processing company Synlait is planning to build its second nutritional powder manufacturing unit in Pokeno, North Waikato.

For its new unit, the dairy firm has conditionally purchased 28ha of land located in New Zealand’s North Island.

Synlait is planning to invest around NZ$260m ($187.5m) in the near future for building its infant base powder manufacturing facility at the site.

Synlait chairman Graeme Milne said: “Our forecast increase in customer demand for infant formula products means we need to add additional powder manufacturing capacity as soon as we can.

“Our long-term infant formula supply agreements underpin this forecast demand and we have these in place with The a2 Milk Company, New Hope Nutritionals, Bright Dairy and Munchkin.”

In order to establish its new milk supply for Synlait Pokeno, the dairy company intends to improve their a2 Milk and Lead with Pride programmes with farmers living in the Waikato region.

Synlait CEO and managing director John Penno said: “a2 Milk and Lead with Pride are two of our special milk programmes and we’re really excited to bring these opportunities to the Waikato.

“As well as helping us to meet our forecast infant formula demand, we see Pokeno as an opportunity to balance our exposure to a single powder manufacturing site and single milk supply pool at Synlait Dunsandel in the South Island.”

The first dryer that will be installed at the Pokeno site will be identical to the dryer three from Synlait Dunsandel, which is an infant formula-capable spray dryer that has an annual production capacity of 40,000t.

Penno further added: “We have built one of the world’s most sophisticated infant formula manufacturing sites in Dunsandel.

“With the addition of Pokeno, we will have a national portfolio of added-value capability to leverage for our future growth.”

The commissioning date of the facility will be revealed by the company after obtaining all the approvals for the site.