GMP Dairy, in East Tamaki, Auckland, packs for many of the 100-plus infant formula brands sold from NZ to China, which imports $200 million annually of retail-ready products.
GMP was the first plant to receive Chinese regulatory agency approval from May 1 when controls were placed on the numbers of NZ plants and brands (Dairy Exporter, March, p15).
That process reflected a crackdown in China on the manufacture and sale of infant formula that began after the melamine adulteration scandal of 2008.
China-born GMP owner Karl Ye now has three plants in Australia and NZ packing both pharmaceuticals and dairy products.
At the East Tamaki production line opening by Trade Minister Tim Groser, Ye said it was the first pharmaceutical-grade infant formula manufacturing facility in NZ, which fitted China’s requirements.
Ye said the second canning line would raise plant capacity to 40 million cans a year, containing 40,000 tonnes of milk powder and ingredients.
He expected to pack about 40% of total NZ exports.
Assistant operations manager Stelios Simpson explained that two new technologies had been added to the packing line for trace-back security and consumer reassurance.
The first was a “black box” capture of images from CCTV cameras, sensors, batch readers, and X-rays at stages of production to store all information and data in a safe location resistant to fire and earthquake.
The second was smartphone-integrated storage of can images and data through a unique QR code accessible from the retail locations by consumers, before purchase.
For example, the X-rays taken of the sealed can would assure consumers there was no metal contamination.
GMP Dairy said that while this might seem overkill to NZ consumers, Chinese parents would be very interested.
The QR code also provided the phones with ingredient lists and guarded against product faking.
The new production line also used robotic systems to reduce labour and prevent contamination through minimising human error and interference.
GMP Dairy claimed to be the only company out of the 13 NZ infant formula plants to be registered by the Chinese without needing to undertake any corrective actions.
