The case study highlights Fonterra’s joint venture with a US partner to produce high quality, sustainably sourced, value-add protein ingredients for sports, medical and paediatric applications.
Jordan Small
Executive Director, NZUS Council
Fonterra has built US partnerships to produce high quality, sustainably sourced, value-add protein ingredients for sports, medical and paediatric applications. Columbia River Technology (CRT) was established as an Oregon-based joint venture between US dairy cooperative Tillamook, Threemile Canyon Farms, and Fonterra to produce high quality whey protein products, utilising the natural whey and lactose by-products from Tillamook’s state of the art cheese-making plant.
Fonterra brings significant technical and sales expertise, and intellectual property to the JV, which adds value to US milk and supplies customers domestically and increasingly in a number of export markets, primarily in Asia.
The manufacturing plant based in Oregon supports 50 direct jobs, as well as many more downstream jobs in sales, supply chain, and secondary processing. The JV creates value for Fonterra’s farmer shareholders by complementing New Zealand-based supply and enabling the Co-operative to meet growing global demand for high quality protein.