The Government has announced a plan aimed at strengthening and protecting the country's 'food assurance systems' to match rapid growth in infant formula exports.

Global food giant Heinz has revealed plans to scale down production at an infant formula plant it operates in Britain and shift the work to New Zealand.

Fonterra remains confident about its push into China's branded infant formula market, despite controversy in the Chinese media this year over New Zealand-made baby milk.

New Zealand's dairy sector debt nearly tripled over the past decade to $30.5 billion last year and some farmers will have difficulty servicing their loans in the year ahead.

NZ's reputation for high quality infant formula is being risked by inexperienced companies looking to cash in on Chinese demand, says a high-powered industry group.

It remains an area crying out for regulatory oversight in case missteps by smaller players screw the market for our champions, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

China's Government says it will step up monitoring of foreign infant formula products and "nurture" Chinese-made baby milk brands.

As Fonterra China Farms general manager Nicola Morris sums up, it is about taking the best of Kiwi ingenuity and farming systems.

Fonterra's Chilean subsidiary is an example of what the co-operative would like to achieve in the rest of the world, says former general manager Jose Miguel Porraz.

The allure of a high share price is proving too much for a growing number of Fonterra's farmers, with more choosing to sell up and move to competing cooperatives and dairy companies, says Fonterra's director of milk supply, Steve Murphy.

Fonterra says its opening forecast farmgate milk price had been set at $7.00 per kg of milk solids for the 2013/14 season - up $1.20.

Former Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden has apologised to China, its people and Government for telling an audience never to trust the Chinese.

The only way to protect milk from light damage is to block out all light. The trade off, however, is the inability to see how much is left, writes Peter McClure.

Fonterra's Malaysian operation has doubled its revenue in local currency terms over the past five years.

In a long tradition of dud products, marketers of what was hailed as a world first for keeping milk fresh must face the fact that nobody likes it

Farmer David Hunt has spoken out about his battle with mental illness in a bid to raise awareness of the warning signs for depression in rural communities.

Units in the Fonterra Shareholders Fund hit a record high this week despite ongoing increases in dairy product prices - prompting some in the industry to ask if investors fully understand the factors at work.