Fonterra to invest $27 million in new dry store at Te Rapa
Fonterra has announced a $27 million investment in a dry store distribution centre at its Te Rapa site that will strengthen its Waikato operations and allow the Co-operative to deliver product more efficiently to its customers.
Fonterra’s Director Logistics Network, Mark Leslie, says the dry store will provide the Co-operative annual benefits of nearly $5m through reduced operating costs.
“Our seasonal production means that we store product until we receive orders. The new dry store will enable us to store product at the site of manufacture right through the peak of the season and to more efficiently manage the flow of goods through to our customers by better utilising the rail infrastructure out of our Crawford St distribution centre,” says Mr Leslie.
Fonterra’s base storage-capacity in the Waikato for Te Rapa product is currently only 60 per cent of the total requirement based on a standard season production profile of approximately 300,000 MT. The new dry store will more than double storage capacity at Te Rapa allowing all production to be stored in the Waikato before flowing direct to port for export.
The dry store is Fonterra’s third recent investment in the Waikato including a new UHT milk processing site at Waitoa and the expansion of its Te Rapa cream cheese plant in response to increasing demand for dairy nutrition in Asia.
The Te Rapa dry store investment also follows the recent Whareroa dry store announcement.