Hans Berghorst, director of operations in Europe, Fonterra, told DairyReporter.com at Anuga Foodtec last week that Fonterra hopes to secure additional whey sourcing deals in the near future.
“We are, more or less, scanning the market for sources of whey we can make available for Fonterra,” said Berghorst.
He declined to say which companies or European countries Fonterra is eyeing, but acknowledged that recent sourcing efforts in Poland had not gone to plan.
“We had some really good initiatives in Poland, but unfortunately it didn’t work out,” he said.
“We made our calculations and they made their calculations. It should be profitable for both companies.”
“Our partner decided to invest more in fresh dairy than in powder production,” he added.
Fonterra's European whey sourcing efforts began in 2011, when it formed a joint venture with British dairy First Milk.
It then partnered with Lithuanian dairy, Rokiškio, before striking a deal with Dutch firm A-ware Food to establish separate but mutually beneficial cheese and whey protein ingredient plants in Heerenveen.
Production at the plant, which is expected to churn our around 5,000 tonnes of whey protein and 25,000 tonnes of lactose each year, began on January 1 2015.
In July 2014, Fonterra also entered a five-year strategic partnership with British processor Dairy Crest to produce and market infant formula ingredients, demineralized whey powder (D90) and galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS).
Its partnership with Dairy Crest "will come online" later this year, said Berghorst.