Fonterra completes $30m upgrade of Eltham cheese plant in New Zealand

Fonterra has completed a $30m upgrade of its cheese plant in Eltham, Taranaki, New Zealand.

Following the upgrade, the plant is capable of producing enough individually wrapped cheese slices to fill more than three billion burgers this year.

The improvements were executed in two stages. Completed last year, the first stage comprised a line installation to produce individually wrapped sliced cheeses.

Following the recent completion of phase two, the co-operative is now able to offer ready-sliced cheese for cafes, restaurants and fast food stores such as McDonald’s.

According to Fonterra global operations managing director Robert Spurway, the upgrade will enable the co-operative to better serve customer demands.

Spurway said: "Each of our customers has slightly different requirements and uses for the cheese we make for them, and this additional capacity will allow us to meet more than 350 different product specifications.

"For example, one of the things McDonald’s tests us on is how quickly they can peel the cheese off the block.

"Our ability to consistently provide above their brand standard of quality is what makes us a preferred supplier."

With the capacity to manufacture 3.5t of cheese every hour, the upgraded Eltham plant has so far produced 70,000t of cheese, 80% of which has been exported to more than 50 countries.

Fonterra global foodservice director Grant Watson said: "Globally, foodservice is growing at 6% annually and expansions such as this one at Eltham help us to capitalise on that growth."

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Image: The upgraded Eltham plant can produce cheese to fill over three billion burgers this year. Photo: courtesy of Fonterra.