Under the agreement, a greenfields site will be developed in Heerenveen in the north of the Netherlands. A-ware will operate a cheese manufacturing plant at the site. Fonterra will operate a dairy ingredients facility alongside it - processing A-ware's whey by-product. Construction of the plants is scheduled for competition in late 2014.
The announcement follows the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding with A-ware in May 2012.
DairyReporter.com approached Fonterra’s Amsterdam office regarding the agreement. The company was unable to confirm how much the development would cost.
“Fonterra has substantial intellectual property in the manufacture of functional whey protein ingredients and has been looking for some time for a source of high quality whey to enable it to commercialise these innovations for customers around the world,” said Fonterra CEO, Theo Spierings.