Fonterra has announced that it will invest $6.2m to expand the coolroom of its Cobden Spreads plant in Australia.
The expansion will increase storage capacity of butters and spreads after production, allowing the storage of more products to meet the growing demand.
Fonterra Australia Regional Operations Manager West Andrew Nooy said that the investment is needed for the growth of the country’s popular butter Western Star, which generated sales of $150m last year.
Nooy said: “Western Star is going from strength to strength, winning a bigger slice of the butter and spreads market as consumers shift back to eating more natural foods and incorporating it into their cooking.
“One pack of Western Star Butter is sold every minute in Australia, and the coolroom expansion will give us plenty of room to keep up with demand.”
The expansion will also see addition of new technology, including Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to stack away the finished product into flow-through pallet racking.
Nooy said: “AGVs and flow-through pallet racking are already in use in our state-of-the-art Beverages Plant, and are highly efficient, as they reduce handling of the finished product.
“Importantly, introducing the same technology to the Spreads coolroom will improve the safety of the site for our people by segregating pedestrians and forklifts, reducing the risk of a collision.”
The expansion project is expected to take seven months to complete.
In April, Fonterra Australia entered into an agreement to sell its 36.02% stake in Dairy Technical Services (DTS) to a consortium that includes Bureau Veritas Singapore and AsureQuality.
