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Source: ONE News
Fonterra expects to ship more than 235,000 metric tonnes of butter and cheese per year from its new cool store in Hamilton, which was officially opened today.
Managing director for trade and operations, Gary Romano, said the new cool store is New Zealand's largest and marks a big step forward in Fonterra's drive to get the most efficient link between its farmer shareholders and global customers.
He said the cool store is the central point for all butter and cheese made in the Waikato and the final stop before it's packed into containers and railed directly to the port.
"That's over 235 million retail-sized blocks of Mainland cheese or around 500 million standard packs of Anchor butter," Romano said.
Butter and cheese which was previously stored around the region and the new cool store is expected to improve efficiency in Waikato. The region supplies about a third of Fonterra's milk supply.
The Cool Store has been built alongside a 48,000 metre dry store which opened in 2005 and together they form a hub which is integrated with the KiwiRail network, removing 65,000 truck movements a year from local roads and reducing Fonterra's carbon footprint for transport, Romano said.
Another hub is planned in Mosgiel near Dunedin with a 45,000 metre dry store and 17,000 metre cool store.
Meanwhile, nominations for the 2010 Fonterra elections closed at 12 noon today.
