Friday, March 29, 2024

Co-op ready to talk to farmers

Avatar photo
Fonterra will begin discussions with its farmers about supplying A2 milk and so far feedback has been positive, Farm Source chief operating officer Miles Hurrell says.
Reading Time: 2 minutes

The co-operative wasn’t able to tell farmers about the high-level agreement with the a2 Milk Company (ATM) and therefore didn’t have facts or figures about the potential for a dedicated supply.

The premium to be paid for A2 milk would be part of the discussions though Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings said the objective was an opportunity for farmers to create more value from their milk.

Hurrell said a start-up A2 milk supply might not take long, possibly beginning with large farmers who could identify A2 cows and split their herds.

He did not know how many A2 herds existed in New Zealand already outside of Synlait nor the amount of A2 semen sold each year.

“If we had started asking those questions it would have quickly become obvious why we were doing so.”

Synlait already pays about 20c/kg for A2 milk and has 60 dedicated supply farms.

Hurrell said the sharemarket success of ATM might have prompted farmers to breed more A2 cattle, even if they were not Synlait suppliers.

Dedicated tanker pick-ups and receival lines and vats at processing sites plus auditing were procedural matters for which ATM had protocols and would have input.

Fonterra already had experience in that regard with its organic milk business.

Consumer packs of A2 products would be produced at Canpac, Hamilton, and the Victorian plant at Darnum, already a nutritionals facility.

Capability already existed at several of Fonterra’s NZ and Australian sites to receive A2 milk and process it separately.

Consumer awareness of A2 in Australia was ahead of NZ and A2 had proved consumers worldwide are looking for variety and choice, Hurrell said.

Asked about the antagonism of Fonterra to A2 claims in the past, he said that early claims of medical benefits by the A2 promoters were unfounded.

ATM had subsequently demonstrated some gut health benefits from drinking A2 milk, which Fonterra now supports.

As to what brands will be used by Fonterra in emerging markets for A2 products, Hurrell said those details have not been finalised under the Nutritional Products Manufacturing and Supply Agreement.

That agreement targets new markets in southeast Asia and the Middle East, considerably more quickly extending the capacity and reach of ATM.

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading