New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra has inaugurated its new facility at Heerenveen in Netherlands, which is its first wholly owned and operated ingredients plant in Europe.
The firm has formed a partnership with Dutch cheese manufacturer Royal A-ware to receive whey and lactose for processing from the adjacent A-ware's facility.
The facilities have been built side by side to enable cost-effective, reliable and continuous supply of A-ware's by-products from cheese manufacturing for Fonterra's facility.
Fonterra intends to use the processed dairy goods for manufacturing high-value paediatric, maternal and sports nutrition products.
The new facility is in line with the firm's long-term strategy for developing global milk pools.
Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings said "Our strategy is a good fit with A-ware's long-term vision, so it's a win-win for both companies and it's great to see the partnership come to fruition.
"We have substantial intellectual property in manufacturing functional whey protein ingredients, and having a high-quality, high-volume source based in Europe will allow us to commercialise these innovations for our customers all over the world."
This plant will processes one billion litres of milk annually. It also has the capacity to produce 5,000 metric tonnes of whey protein and 25,000 metric tonnes of lactose each year.
The site is also in compliance with international sustainability standards and global Standard for Food Safety.
