Fonterra celebrates Indonesian agricultural ties

New Zealand prime minister, John Key, and deputy minister of national development planning, Gellwynn Daniel Hamzah Jusuf, visited Fonterra’s Indonesian Cikarang manufacturing facility to mark the strong agricultural partnership between Indonesia and New Zealand.

They were joined by a delegation that included New Zealand minister of trade, Todd McClay, representatives from Indonesia’s ministry of agriculture, Fonterra’s chief operating officer of Farm Source, Miles Hurrell, and president director of Fonterra brands Indonesia, Achyut Kasireddy.

The site was built to meet Indonesia’s growing demand for dairy, has the capacity to blend and pack up to 87,000 packs of Fonterra’s Anlene, Anmum and Anchor Boneeto dairy brands each day. The Rp 340 billion (€22.8m) facility was opened in September last year and is the dairy co-operative’s largest investment in ASEAN in the last decade.

President director of Fonterra Brands Indonesia, Achyut Kasireddy, says New Zealand and Indonesia have shared a positive relationship over the past 65 years, and as New Zealand’s largest company, Fonterra has been flying the New Zealand flag in Indonesia for over 30 years.

“It’s a great honour to host both the New Zealand Prime Minister and Deputy Minister of National Development Planning here today, alongside other dignitaries, to celebrate both countries’ strong agricultural and business relationship,” says Kasireddy.

New Zealand minister of trade Todd McClay welcomed Fonterra’s investment and said it reinforced the exciting opportunities available for New Zealand companies in Indonesia.

“This is a market with large potential. Fonterra’s longstanding commitment to Indonesia should encourage other New Zealand companies to play a greater role,” comments McClay.

Kasireddy adds that Indonesia is one of Fonterra’s priority markets where the dairy co-operative sees huge potential for growth. “Our investment in this site allows us to produce more high quality dairy nutrition to meet Indonesians’ increasing demand for dairy.”

“At the same time, as a dairy co-operative owned by farmers, we are looking to help grow the Indonesian dairy industry by working closely with local dairying communities to help up-skill farmers through our Fonterra Dairy Scholarship programme, which is now in its fourth year,” he adds.