OCEANIA DAIRY GUARANTEES MINIMUM PAYOUT

Oceania Dairy has delivered good news to its supply farmers with a guaranteed minimum milk payout of $4.50 per kilogram of milk solids for the 2015/16 dairy season.

As the New Zealand dairy sector reels from continued turbulence in global dairy markets Oceania has sought to support its local supply farmers and their communities with the guarantee.

“With Fonterra reducing its forecast payout for the season to $3.85, we wanted to send an important signal of support and partnership to our supply farmers,” said Roger Usmar, General Manager, Oceania Dairy Limited.

“Backed by our owner, Yili, Oceania Dairy has looked at how we can practically support our suppliers at a difficult time for the sector.

“By providing a premium minimum guarantee, we can offer our supply farmers some certainty to their cash flow and operational planning for the 2015-16 season.

“Our suppliers are the life-blood of our business so we are investing in them and their future with Oceania Dairy,” he said.

Yili recently announced details of a further five-year, $400 million development project on the Glenavy site.

The comprehensive project will add capacity to output a wide range of additional products from the Glenavy factory.

This will include a whole milk powder dryer, an infant formula canning line and facilities to manufacture UHT milk products and lactoferrin.

“With strong expansion plans, Oceania appreciates the importance of retaining and growing our supplier base,” said Roger Usmar.

“By working in partnership with our suppliers now, we believe that we can all be better positioned to capitalise on the opportunities of the future,” he said.