Fonterra has today announced that it plans to close its canning and packaging facility in Hamilton at the end of July.
The closure of the Canpac site, which blends and packages milk powders, follows the Co-operative’s decision to focus on higher value ingredients such as advanced proteins and medical nutrition.
Fonterra’s Chief Operating Officer, Anna Palairet, says low product volumes and increasing complexities in production has created challenging economic conditions for the facility.
“It’s been a tough day for all the team at the site. Making decisions like this is never easy.
“Our strategy is about creating end-to-end value and growing total returns for our farmer shareholders. We believe the best way to achieve this is to focus on our strengths and scale in ingredients and foodservice, and we are prioritising our investment on the parts of our operations that are better suited to this.”
“We are committed to supporting our employees as we work through the next steps,” says Ms Palairet.
Around 120 people currently work at the site. The Co-op will now work through a consultation process including exploring potential redeployment opportunities before operations are planned to come to an end on 31 July 2025.
The site currently packs up to 4000 metric ton of powders per year, less than one per cent of the Co-op’s total product volume.
