Fonterra seals deals at CIIE
The world's largest dairy exporter Fonterra has signed collaborative deals with Chinese partners worth a total of 18 billion yuan (US$2.58 billion) during the CIIE as local food and beverages companies embrace high-quality raw material.
In recent years Fonterra has been actively driving the infusion of western dairy into Chinese cuisines, desserts, traditional bakery and pastry products.
Fonterra's exhibits at the CIIE cover products for large food business clients as well as Anchor products for the consumer market, such as UHT milk, butter, cheese, pasteurised milk and ambient yogurt.
"China is not only a consumer market, but also a very important source of innovation and an important part of the global industry value chain and it's an important opportunity for Fonterra to leverage the CIIE to bring more products to consumers," said commercial vice president of Fonterra China Paul Washer.
Alibaba Group, New Hope Group and Xiamen C&D Inc were among the local players who inked deals with the dairy producer.
The firm's business in China now accounts for nearly a quarter of Fonterra's global business, ranking first in terms of revenue, profit and sales volume, Washer said.
It's also brought new product lines to the CIIE such as Assura, a premium maternity powder line from Anmum, along with the protein concentrate customized for yogurt manufacturers and functionally enhanced whole milk powder.
He also added that there are still many untapped opportunities in China’s vast inland, and it will continue to penetrate deeper and create further growth.
Fonterra's food-professionals sector is the fastest-growing business in China and it is also working closely with local caterers on innovative dishes and tastes.
In recent years it has been actively driving the infusion of Western dairy into Chinese cuisines, desserts, traditional bakery and pastry products by providing dairy ingredients and recipe for Chinese caterers, serving more than 20,000 customers and covering nearly 400,000 food and beverage stores.
Its dairy ingredients and solutions business NZMP is also seeing significant growth in high value-added raw material.
