Danone to invest $26.5m in Nutricia plant in New Zealand

Danone has announced a NZD 40 million ($26.5 million) investment in its Nutricia spray drying plant in New Zealand to help the site achieve carbon neutrality by 2021.

The company will install a NZD 30 million ($19.9 million) biomass boiler that will reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 20,000 tonnes per year.

Danone’s Nutricia spray drying plant is located at Balclutha, in the Otago region of the South Island. It processes raw milk sourced from 18 local farms into powder that is used as the base for production of infant milk formula brands such as Aptamil and Karicare.

According to Danone, boilers play a central role in spray drying – the process of converting milk into a dry powder through the application of heat – with around 85% of the entire plant’s energy consumption coming from steam production.

Unlike gas or the more common coal-powered boilers, Danone’s biomass boiler will be powered by sustainable wood fuels, which will be sourced locally. The investment also includes the installation of a new water treatment plant.

Cyril Marniquet, Danone’s New Zealand operations director, said: “This significant investment, in what we expect to be New Zealand’s first carbon-neutral plant of its kind, underscores Danone’s global ‘One Planet. One Health’ vision and the belief that the health of people and planet are interconnected. We share the New Zealand government’s ambitions in delivering a low-emissions, climate-resilient future.

“At Danone, we’ve set ourselves an objective of becoming a carbon-neutral company across our entire scope – from farm to family – by 2050. It is through key investments like this one that we take a step forward towards reaching this ambition.”

Earlier this year, Danone opened a €240 million Nutricia facility in the Netherlands, allowing it to produce specialised infant formula for children with specific medical conditions. It represents one of the company’s largest investments anywhere in its European production network during the last ten years.