Fonterra and Coca-Cola partner to expand in Southeast Asia

Fonterra and The Coca-Cola Company have entered into a strategic alliance that aims to capture opportunities in the growing dairy beverage category in Southeast Asia.

The partnership combines Fonterra’s knowledge of dairy nutrition with Coca-Cola’s sales and distribution capabilities and has already seen the launch of a new range of dairy-based products in Vietnam.

The products have been released under Coca-Cola’s Nutriboost brand and offer consumers a combination of milk and fruit juice in a ready-to-drink product.

Both companies are now exploring opportunities to launch a range under Fonterra’s Anchor brand as well as new products in other markets across Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Judith Swales, chief operating officer of Fonterra’s global consumer and foodservice business, said the alliance aims to grow demand in the dairy beverage category across the region.

“Both Fonterra and Coca-Cola are committed to disrupting and accelerating the growth of the dairy ready-to-drink category in Southeast Asia by exciting consumers with innovative new products that offer tailored nutritional benefits,” she said.

“Dairy has become one of the fastest growing beverage categories in Southeast Asia. Demand is being driven by consumers’ increased focus on health and wellness and the category is expected to grow on average at more than 5% each year between 2016 and 2020.

Iain McLaughlin, president of The Coca-Cola Company’s ASEAN business unit, added: “We believe the value-added dairy beverage category offers a significant opportunity for growth in the region and the expanded Nutriboost range is the first step in our combined efforts with Fonterra to deliver winning new products for consumers.”

Fonterra is currently carrying out a major financial review, which was implemented after the firm posted a NZD 196 million ($128.5 million) loss for the 2018 financial year.

In its most recent financial results, the cooperative posted net profit after tax of NZD 80 million ($54.7 million) in the six months to 31 January. Revenue dropped 1% to NZD 9.7 billion ($6.63 billion).