August 13, 2014

Fonterra partners CSIRO to drive innovation in dairy industry

Fonterra Co-operative has signed a five-year strategic agreement with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to drive innovation in sustainable farming, manufacturing, health, nutrition and consumer dairy products.

The agreement will see CSIRO applying its expertise to Fonterra's global dairy chain using its broad range of industrial know-how and scientific capability in remote sensing, resource engineering, ecosystem, food and water.

Fonterra Chief Technology Officer Dr. Jeremy Hill said, "We intend our partnership with CSIRO to develop a range of solutions to address Fonterra's science and technology needs."

"On-farm, CSIRO will turn their attention to herd productivity, effluent management and milk quality, and then work through our supply chain looking at processing and analytical technology, food structure and design, and consumer health benefits," Hill continued. "We're leaving no stone unturned to ensure Fonterra stays at the cutting edge of dairy innovation."

CSIRO's Executive Director Agriculture Food and Health Maurice Moloney said that the partnership is a key component of CSIRO's strategy to deliver research solutions for the global dairy industry.

"Our expertise provides significant opportunities across the entire dairy value-chain and by connecting with the likes of Fonterra we can speed up delivery to market, and hence the positive impact, of this know-how," he said.