Westland Milk to boost consumer butter production

New Zealand dairy company Westland Milk Products is investing NZD 40 million ($27.8 million approx.) to upgrade its Hoktika plant and increase the production capacity of its consumer butter brand.

The capital will be used to upgrade its Hoktika factory in New Zealand, in an effort to double the production of its Westgold butter brand to 42,000 tonnes a year.

The investment forms part of the company’s strategy to move away from being a supplier of bulk commodity butter and focus on manufacturing consumer goods, as well as enter new international markets.

“Westgold and Westland-produced butter is already sold in more than 20 countries around the world, including the US, Japan and China, but a large part of what we supply currently is bulk commodity butter,” said Hamish Yates, Westland Milk’s general manager of marketing and sales.

The company was bought by Chinese dairy giant Yili back in 2019, in a deal worth $403 million.

“The investment highlights the important role Westland plays in Yili’s ongoing plans to supply international industrial and consumer markets,” said Shiqing Jia, resident director of Westland Milk.

“In future, demand for butter production and processing of Yili and Yili subsidiary brands will be considerable, and the upgraded Westland plant will play an important role,” added Jia.

Upgrades are planned to be underway by May and are expected to take three months to complete.