Fonterra’s foodservice business, Anchor Food Professionals, generated more than NZD 2 billion ($1.44 billion) in annual revenue over the past year.
In a statement today, Fonterra said the figures mean Anchor is now New Zealand’s sixth biggest export business.
Over the past four years, Fonterra has invested NZD 850 million ($611.1 million) in new production capacity for its foodservice arm, NZD 700 million ($503.3 million) of which has been in New Zealand.
These expansions are at Waitoa in the Waikato for UHT creams, Eltham in Taranaki for slice-on-slice cheese, Clandeboye in Canterbury for extra stretch mozzarella and Te Rapa in the Waikato and Darfield in Canterbury for cream cheese.
Fonterra COO of consumer and foodservice Lukas Paravacini said the achievement is the result of changing lifestyles by consumers and a new way of working, which is about partnering with customers to help their businesses succeed in this rapidly growing industry.
“Foodservice is one of the largest industries in the world and encompasses food and beverages that are consumed out of the home such as in restaurants, cafes and bakeries,” he said.
“In the USA more than 50% of all spend on food and beverage is now out of home and in China the market has grown by 30% over the last five years. As a result, the global industry is predicted to be worth $3 trillion in 2021.
“We have taken advantage of this eating out trend and currently Anchor Food Professionals is growing around ten times faster than the global total foodservice market.
“It is part of our strategy of focussing on adding more value to every drop of our farmers’ milk. The gross margin from foodservice is two or three times what we can earn from basic ingredient products.”
Fonterra global director of foodservice Grant Watson said a new business model which centres around providing solutions based on customer insights has been central to this success.
“We have 56 chefs in more than 50 countries who go into kitchens to demonstrate the products,” he said. “They get to know their customers, work to understand their issues and challenges, and help us design more new products to help address those problems.
“We know the smallest things can make a difference, so we make our products last longer, stretch further, work faster, waste less, withstand more. We bring together world class dairy products and the deep expertise of our people to work alongside the passionate, talented and innovative food professionals who are driving the foodservice industry to new heights.”
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