Yashili Production Plant among Finalists at Property Awards

Yashili Production Plant among Finalists at NZ Property Awards

At the recent New Zealand Rider Levett Bucknall Property Industry Awards, Yashili New Zealand Dairy Company was named as a finalist in the MyTrends Industrial Property category, receiving Merit for its infant formula production plant in Pokeno.

The awards were held on Friday 17 June at Vector Arena and saw around 1500 property professionals attend from around New Zealand and representing a number of companies. It was a chance to celebrate excellence in property development, judged on economic and financial factors, project vision and innovation, design and construction, owner and user satisfaction, and sustainability and efficiency of operation.

Yashili New Zealand is one of the leading producers of infant formula for the domestic market in China, and was the only dairy manufacturing plant represented in the Industrial Property category at the awards.

Yashili New Zealand General Manager William Zhao says Yashili is honoured to be a finalist: “Our production plant is located in the newly created Gateway Business Park, adjacent to Pokeno Village. It took three years of construction and NZD $220 million to build the production plant which aims to help Yashili achieve two simple goals --- to produce the highest quality infant formula and raise the healthiest babies.”

The 30,000m2 plant was designed and constructed with the help of New Zealand-based companies Babbage Consultants, GEA Process and EBERT Construction, which has built a reputation as a specialist in the design and construction of dairy plants having worked with Fonterra and others previously.

The design-build project is notable for its success in balancing constructability with the stringent hygiene requirements demanded of an infant milk powder processing plant. The team ensured the dry store was insect proof and used stainless-steel electrical conduits and pre-cast concrete columns, wall panels and stitch joints. Even the surface treatments for the flooring and walls required extra vigilance. Design innovations accommodate future expansion without disruption to production and provide access for plant maintenance and public viewing without entering hygiene control zones.

The quality of the finishes was signed off by AsureQuality before Yashili could obtain the requisite export licences and the plant achieves full compliance with both Chinese and New Zealand export standards.

William Zhao says, “The result is a best-in-class production plant, designed to operate under strict quality controls. It boasts world-class facilities utilising the latest technology and finest automatic control systems. Temperature and humidity are controlled around the clock, guaranteeing stable production and ensuring reliable product quality.”

Today, nearly one year after the plant opened, Yashili New Zealand employs 100 full-time staff and can produce up to 8.4 tonnes of formula an hour, or 52,000 tonnes per year to supply the increasing demanding Chinese market. The plant features a permanent Visitor Centre where school parties and tourists can see first-hand the production process from grazing and milk supply through to canning.

Other companies which featured alongside Yashili New Zealand in the Industrial Property Award category included Spark Data Centre (Auckland – Best in Category), Fuji Xerox (Auckland), Hellmann (Auckland), Ideal Electrical (Auckland), Mainfreight Hamilton (Hamilton), and Glassworks Industry Plant (Christchurch).

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