Fonterra to establish a presence in India

The intention of the joint venture is to produce a range of consumer and foodservice dairy products that will help meet the growing demand for high-quality dairy nutrition in India.

India: World’s largest and fastest growing dairy sector

Lukas Paravicini, Fonterra’s Chief Operating Officer Global Consumer and Foodservice, said the partnership, under the name Fonterra Future Dairy Partners, will enable Fonterra to establish a presence in India.

“It will allow us to prepare the groundwork and make the most of our expertise as we enter the world’s largest and fastest growing dairy industry. Consumer demand for dairy in India over the next 7 years is set to increase by 82 billion litres, 7 times the forecasted growth for China. The partnership will be driven by growth through profitability. The initial stages of the partnership will focus on product development, and marketing with the right capital investment made during this period. The first consumer products will be launched by the middle of 2019, using both locally sourced milk and dairy products from New Zealand.

Mr Paravicini: “The joint venture comes at a time when the Indian dairy industry is transforming itself. This has resulted in a big shift away from more traditional locally-based dairy businesses with limited product and brand differentiation, to a new era where more value-added and innovative dairy products are in high demand across the country.” Photo: Lee Howell

Indian dairy industry is transforming itself

The joint venture comes at a time when the Indian dairy industry is transforming itself. Consumption of milk and other dairy products in India are increasing and will continue to receive strong demand. Driving this growth is the country’s young population where 70% of people are below 45 years old. They are digital, live in urban areas, lead an active lifestyle, have more disposable income, and want to consume higher quality and higher nutritional dairy products.

[Source: Fonterra]