Synlait boosts supply deal with Chinese formula brand

Synlait boosts supply deal with Chinese formula brand New Hope Nutritionals

By Paul McBeth

Aug. 16 (BusinessDesk) - Synlait Milk, the NZX-listed milk processor, will triple its infant formula supply with Sichuan-based New Hope Nutritionals over the next five years in a new deal with the Chinese company.

Rakaia-based Synlait's new arrangement will underpin applications to register New Hope's Akara and e-Akara brands with the China Food and Drug Administration, building on a three-year relationship where Synlait took a quarter stake in the Chinese infant formula brand.

"The agreed infant formula volumes with New Hope Nutritionals and our other customers will be met by blending and canning capacity at our Dunsandel site and eventually our new Auckland site," Synlait chief executive John Penno said in a statement. "This supply agreement has clarified our infant formula partnership with New Hope Nutritionals for the near future, allowing both of us to plan with confidence."

Synlait has long-standing links with China through its cornerstone shareholder Bright Dairy and has benefited from its successful supply deal with a2 Milk Co, which is a big seller of infant formula into the world's most populous nation.

The New Zealand milk processor took the 25 percent stake in New Hope Nutritionals, a joint venture with New Hope Group, to get a direct interest in a Chinese infant formula brand in 2015 to try to reassure consumers as the China Food and Drug Administration tightened up food safety regulations.

Synlait shares last traded at $4.65 and have gained 50 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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