Fonterra Takes Six Out of Seven

Fonterra Takes Six Out of Seven

Fonterra has taken all but one of the awards on offer at the annual Dairy Industry Quality Performance Awards, with three of the six prizewinners triumphing for the second year in a row.

Run in conjunction with the New Zealand Institute of Food Science Technology Awards, the Dairy Industry Quality Awards recognise outstanding performance by dairy manufacturing plants.

One of the company’s repeat winners was the Clandeboye site, which received the Ecolab EcoEfficiency Award. The site’s waste minimisation programme also won last year’s Zero Waste Award in recognition of the reduction in waste to landfill achieved.

Fonterra National Eco-Efficiency manager Spring Humphreys says the site’s three-way partnership with Envirowaste and Fullcircle, and adherence to the NZ Packaging Accord and the Zero Waste Journey objectives provide a great example of what can be achieved.

Taking out the Lactose and Derivatives Quality Award two years running is a brilliant result, says Kapuni Plant Manager Marcel Gesterkamp, and a tribute to his team’s commitment to continuous improvement.

Tony Smith, Site Manager for Fonterra Stirling is equally delighted his team has taken the Cheese Quality Award for the second year in a row, saying it was especially pleasing to be judged so highly by fellow dairy industry people. “We’ll be setting a challenge to see if we can take it out a third time!” he said.

A clear and strong focus on continuous improvement of systems and best practice contributed to Whareroa Cream winning the Cream Products Quality Award, says Whareroa Site Manager Mike Corbett.

“The Whareroa Cream plant produces around 87,000 tonnes of butter per year, of which 83,000 tonnes are exported all over the world. It is a large and complex plant. So it’s a fantastic achievement for the team to have stayed focused on quality and kept ahead of their peers.”

Morrinsville Site Manager Ross Singh says his team’s success in the Milk Powders category was especially significant, given the number of changes the site implemented at the beginning of the season.

“The plant undertook some huge projects earlier in the year. Making big changes at the start of the season is always going to carry some risk. This award is confirmation that those risks have paid off.

“Morrinsville Milk Powder Plant has a history of high quality and excellent performance and it’s fantastic to see the tradition is being continued.”

Rounding out Fonterra’s successful evening was Lichfield’s Whey Plant, which capped off its fifth and busiest season of production by winning the Protein Products Award – a fitting finale to what was not only a great production year, but also a great 12 months in terms of improving customer satisfaction and overall plant performance Lichfield Site Manager Paul Kelly said.

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