The Edendale site won the the co-operative’s best site cup, best large site and quality cup in an award ceremony in Auckland earlier this month.
Lower South Island operations general manager Andrew Johns said Edendale was acknowledged for its resilience through a challenging season, which included severe weather, as well as its continued focus on quality to deliver for the co-op’s customers.
The site was also commended for its leadership and ability to consistently deliver at scale.
Mr Johns said the awards reflected the hard work and commitment of the site’s more than 600 staff.
"It’s been an exceptional year for Edendale. Even under pressure, the team didn’t miss a beat on quality, delivering for our customers around the world."
For the second year, the Lower South Island depot also picked up the Tūhono award, which recognises safe and efficient driving practices.
Judges commented that the consecutive win spoke to a deeply embedded culture of care, discipline and pride in how the team operated.
Dubbed the ‘‘Oscars of manufacturing’’, Fonterra’s annual best site cup celebrates excellence and recognise the contribution of more than 7000 manufacturing employees across the co-op.
Fonterra New Zealand manufacturing director Chris Kane said it was a proud moment to celebrate the achievements of sites across the co-op.
"With strong milk collections across the country, it’s been a busy season for everyone at our sites. These awards reflect the daily commitment to safety, quality, teamwork and continuous improvement that keeps our co-op strong."
Edendale is the co-op’s oldest site and one of its largest, processing up to 15 million litres of milk a day during peak season.
The site produces a wide range of high-value dairy ingredients, including anhydrous milk fat, which goes into confectionery like chocolate bars and milk protein concentrate that goes into protein shakes or medical and sport nutrition products, for more than 70 markets.
The co-op has made significant investments in its southernmost site. A $150 million investment in a new UHT cream plant is progressing well, with initial product testing beginning in August as part of the plant commissioning process.
Meanwhile, the co-op has made investments in electrode boilers at the site to reduce emissions and future-proof its operations.
