Chilean Earthquake - Soprole S.A.
Fonterra has confirmed that all staff in Chile have been safely accounted for, including those who were on leave at the time of the earthquake.
“This is the result of a superb effort by our staff at Soprole, who have worked long hours, often in very difficult conditions,” said Fonterra's Commercial Director, Latin America, Kevin Murray.
Fonterra said its efforts would now turn to supporting those staff who have lost homes and need to be relocated.
Recovery of the business operation is also progressing well with milk being collected, all factories operating to some extent and product moving through distribution to market, albeit with some restrictions.
Over the weekend a Telethon was held in Chile to raise money for disaster recovery. Fonterra and Soprole together donated NZ$1 million.
Fonterra, through its subsidiary Soprole, employs around 1,800 people in Chile.
Soprole has a head office in Santiago, four manufacturing sites at San Bernardo, Los Angeles, Osorno, and Los Lagos, nine regional distribution centres, and eight transport centres around the country.
About Fonterra
Fonterra is a global leader in dairy nutrition – the preferred supplier of dairy ingredients to many of the world’s leading food companies. Fonterra is also a market leader with our own consumer dairy brands in Australia/New Zealand, Asia/Africa, Middle East and Latin America.
The farmer-owned New Zealand co-operative is the largest processor of milk in the world, producing more than two million tonnes of dairy ingredients, value added dairy ingredients, specialty ingredients and consumer products every year. Drawing on generations of dairy expertise, Fonterra is one of the largest investors in dairy based research and innovation in the world. Our 16,000 staff work across the dairy spectrum from advising farmers on sustainable farming and milk production, to ensuring we live up to exacting quality standards and delivering every day on our customer promise in more than 100 markets around the world.
