First product rolls off line at Waitoa UHT processing site

The first 25,000 Anchor UHT cream packs have rolled off the production line at Fonterra’s $120 million UHT milk processing site at Waitoa in New Zealand.

The first production marks a significant milestone for the site, which has transformed from a greenfield site to a state-of-the-art processing facility in just 12 months.

“More than 500 people have been involved in the construction of the site and all their hard work has paid off. The first commercial production went smoothly and we produced 25,000 litres of cream ready for sale - this is a great result,” said Donald Lumsden, UHT Operations Manager.

The site will enable Fonterra to increase its UHT production capacity by 100% in the next few years. It will process more than 100 million litres of milk per year when all five of its milk processing lines are up and running.

Process Operators Neeta Sharma and Greg Smith with some of the first product produced at Fonterra’s Waitoa UHT site.