Source: Radio New Zealand
The group includes Westgold butter’s Westland Milk Product. supplied
China dairy giant Yili’s West Coast-based New Zealand operations have delivered record revenue and profits, driven by a strategic shift into higher-value dairy products.
The group – which includes Westland Milk Products, Oceania Dairy and EasiYo – reported revenue of $1.58 billion in 2025, up 14 percent, while pre-tax profit jumped more than three-fold to $58.4 million.
Yili entered the New Zealand dairy sector in 2013 with its Oceania Dairy investment in South Canterbury, later expanding its footprint with the purchase of Westland Milk Products in 2019.
The companies, operating collectively as the Yili Oceania Group, undertook a major business transformation in 2025, increasing collaboration between Westland Milk Products and Oceania Dairy, which it said has accelerated earnings growth.
It says this helped accelerate earnings growth despite the farmgate milk price rising 30 percent to $10.16 per kilogram of milk solids.
Executive director of Yili Oceania, Zhiqiang Li, said the structural upgrade and capability enhancement programme has delivered solid, higher-quality growth, shifting the business from a volume-driven model to one focused on value.
“By accelerating the shift towards value-added products, we achieved record-high revenue and profit, while also making tangible progress in capacity expansion, operational efficiency and global channel development,” he said.
The company has also strengthened its leadership team over the past year, including the appointment of Alex Turnbull as chief executive in February.
Li thanked staff and said the company had worked to build strong partnerships with New Zealand dairy farmers and other partners.
“Over the past decade of investment in New Zealand, we have worked hard to build fair, transparent and sustainable relationships, ensuring that value is shared across the supply chain,” he said.
Chief executive Alex Turnbull said the group remains focused on its role as an economic cornerstone of the West Coast, adding the results would allow continued investment in the business and workforce.
He said strong pricing, a greater focus on higher-value products, and foreign exchange management supported the result.
“The business is now well-placed to build further on the value-over-volume strategy,” Turnbull said.
The group has expanded production capacity with a third butter line at Hokitika to boost output of Westgold butter, and commissioned a second lactoferrin plant at the site, making it one of the largest lactoferrin production facilities in the world.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand