Fonterra update with Teh-han Chow

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A huge expo in China next month will be the perfect opportunity for Fonterra to showcase its dairy expertise to customers, the co-op's chief executive for Greater China Teh-han Chow says.

The China International Import Expo, (CIIE) is a "really big elaborate event" held in a large exhibition hall in Shanghai, Chow told The Country Sport Breakfast's Lee Piper.

"The key theme of our presence in CIIE this year will be about keeping healthy, as our teams in Greater China are tapping into this immunity trend that's arising and growing post Covid," Chow said.

Fonterra's consumer brands team would be promoting two new products at the expo - the Anchor probiotics sachet and Anchor skim UHT.

"Both are new to China and the probiotics sachet was among one of the newly innovated products that was worked on by our Fonterra-ACC innovation Centre," Chow said.

The co-op's Anchor Food Professionals and NZMP teams would also be on hand to promote new and popular products, Chow said.

Meanwhile, back in New Zealand, Chow said Kiwi farmers had been receiving unique greenhouse gas (GHG) emission profiles for their farms.

Listen below:

"It's the first time a tool like this has been introduced at scale in New Zealand," Chow said.

The reports were designed to help identify opportunities for on-farm improvements, including the estimated level of biological methane, and the amount of emissions per kilogram of milk solids.

Chow said 81 per cent of consumers felt strongly that companies should help improve the environment, and Fonterra's customers were responding by "setting some bold goals" to reduce their emissions profile.

"So there's an opportunity for our farmers to support them and play a role in this," Chow said.

For example, Starbucks, (a key customer in China), was aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.

While New Zealand milk was already among the most sustainably produced in the world, increasing customer and consumer motivation linked to climate change, meant Fonterra needed to ensure it continued to position its farmers for the future to support its customers, Chow said.

Listen below: Chow talked about Fonterra's sale of its China farms.