FONTERRA WELCOMES GOVERNMENT MOVE ON RAW MILK REGULATIONS
Fonterra today welcomed the Government's announcement confirming changes to the Raw Milk Regulations in New Zealand, which set the basis for the price of milk other processors can access from Fonterra under DIRA (Dairy Industry Restructuring Act).
Chairman, Sir Henry van der Heyden, said the new basis for the regulated milk price – Fonterra's Milk Price plus 10cents/kgMS – would "remove some of the benefits other processors have had and create more of a level playing field".
"Other processors will still get access to DIRA milk but they will pay a fairer price that reflects what that milk is worth at the farm gate, and what we pay our farmers for it," Sir Henry said.
Sir Henry said the issue had been of concern to Fonterra farmers for some time, because of the subsidy it gave other companies to compete with Fonterra in export markets. He said the response from Government, based on a MAF study of the market for milk, was both fairer and in line with the principles envisaged when Fonterra was formed in 2001.
About Fonterra
Fonterra is a global leader in dairy nutrition – the preferred supplier of dairy ingredients to many of the world’s leading food companies. Fonterra is also a market leader with our own consumer dairy brands in Australia/New Zealand, Asia/Africa, Middle East and Latin America.
The farmer-owned New Zealand co-operative is the largest processor of milk in the world, producing more than two million tonnes of dairy ingredients, value added dairy ingredients, specialty ingredients and consumer products every year. Drawing on generations of dairy expertise, Fonterra is one of the largest investors in dairy based research and innovation in the world. Our 16,000 staff work across the dairy spectrum from advising farmers on sustainable farming and milk production, to ensuring we live up to exacting quality standards and delivering every day on our customer promise in more than 100 markets around the world.
