Fonterra Australia announced an AU$165 million investment in capital expenditure at key sites in Victoria and Tasmania in a move to increase capacity and meet unique demand opportunities for dairy.
It is made up of a new investment of around AU$130 million to put in 500 million litres of additional capacity, and a further
AU$35 million for a range of annual site improvements as part of its regular capital investment plan in Australia.
The new expansion includes:
- AU$125 million expansion at Fonterra Australia’s flagship Stanhope cheese facility in northern Victoria which will double the size of the cheese plant
- AU$12 million investment in Tasmania, which includes expansion to its Wynyard cheese plant and an increase in lactose processing capacity at Spreyton
- A further AU$7 million expansion at the Darnum Nutritionals plant in Gippsland as well as the installation of two robotic palletisers in Bayswater in eastern Victoria to improve efficiency
- AU$13.5 million for projects at Cobden and another AU$8.6 million at Dennington in western Victoria
Mr. René Dedoncker, Managing Director of Fonterra Australia, said customers want trusted supply options out of Australia, especially for products like cheese, whey, and nutritional powders which are in high demand.
“We have a clear strategy that is delivering sustainable returns. To create value, we need to invest to stay ahead of the demand curve. These investments support our aim to secure positive returns back to our farmers on both sides of the Tasman.”
In total, the capacity investments will create around 36 jobs, in addition to generating construction work during the development phase.
Mr. Dedoncker says more capacity needs more milk and Fonterra Australia is working hard to secure this.
Fonterra Australia’s total milk intake is now two billion litres in Victoria and Tasmania.
