South Canterbury team extends best cheese-maker award streak
The South Canterbury site was singled out for the Greater China Star Quality Cheese Award for the fifth time at Fonterra's annual Best Site Cup awards
The award goes to the team producing the highest quality product and best customer service to the co-op's greater China consumer market.
Clandeboye cheese and protein manager Conrad Harle said the team's long-standing commitment to quality and customer satisfaction had paid off again.
''The team takes great pride in delivering consistently high-quality cheese to our customers in greater China, ensuring every product meets the highest standards,'' he said in a statement.
''Our very customer-focused approach and strong relationships drive this success, and we are eager to keep raising the bar.'
The awards in their 19th year generate friendly competition between co-op sites for the right to win a range of categories including sustainability, innovation and efficiency.
Clandeboye has a strong history of manufacturing cheese.
The site near Timaru began operating in 1904 and is one of Fonterra's largest cheese production facilities.
More than 1000 workers process about 40% of the South Island's milk supply.
At the peak of the season, more than 13 million litres of milk is collected daily to be turned into cheddar and mozzarella which is shipped to more than 50 countries including the largest market of China, United States, the Middle East and Africa, South East Asia and Australia.
Cheddar is the mainstay product with Clandeboye's oldest manufacturing plant able to process up to 1.8 million litres of milk a day – equal to 200,000 1kg blocks.
Cheese making combines pasteurisation, curd cutting, pressing, and ageing with modern automation to produce consistent products and advanced ageing processes.
Mozzarella has become a major part of the site's production, with Clandeboye the largest producer of it in the Southern Hemisphere. The cheese ends up in more than half a billion pizzas every year around the globe.
Last year Fonterra announced it was replacing polluting coal boilers at the site with a $64 million conversion to wood pellets. Two boilers are due to be completed in September, as part of its commitment to exit coal by 2037.
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