News

Fonterra invests $6.2m in spreads

29 Aug 2016

Fonterra Australia says it continues to invest in the future of Australian dairy, with a $6.2 million investment to expand the coolroom at its Cobden Spreads plant, home of its Western Star brand.

Fonterra Australia says it continues to invest in the future of Australian dairy, with a $6.2 million investment to expand the coolroom at its Cobden Spreads plant, home of its Western Star brand.

The coolroom expansion will increase storage capacity of butters and spreads once they come off the production line, enabling the storage of more products to keep up with the growing demand the company says it is seeing.

Fonterra Australia Regional Operations Manager West Andrew Nooy says the investment is necessary to make more room for Western Star, with sales of the award-winning butter reaching $150 million last year, and continuing to grow.

“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,” said Nooy. “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 use technology including Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) to take finished product off the line and stack away into flow-through pallet racking, increasing efficiency.

“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,” said Nooy. “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. With Cobden now Fonterra’s largest Australian site, employing over 300 people, it’s critical that we keep our people safe.”