The already competitive global pizza cheese market got a lot more challenging for U.S. companies last week, when New Zealand export giant Fonterra completed an expansion project that doubles the capacity of its mozzarella plant in Clandeboye on the nation's large herd-dominated south island (seen above).
The key part of the expansion is a Fonterra-patented technology that allows milk to be made into frozen natural shredded mozzarella in just one day, versus two months that conventional processes require.
Fonterra's website is unclear about how big the Clandeboye plant is now. It says maximum processing capacity is 12.4 million liters (28.1 million pounds) of milk per day, but does not specify whether that is for all nine processing plants on the site, or if it is for just the mozzarella plant.
As points of reference, the Leprino Foods Co. facilities in Lemoore, Calif., and Greeley, Colo., were billed as the largest mozzarella plants in the world at 6 to 7 million pounds per day capacity each when they were built in 2003 and 2010, respectively.
Virtually all production from the Clandeboye plant is destined for global pizza and pasta restaurant chains in China, Asia and the Middle East – markets where U.S. cheese exporters have established solid and growing footholds in recent years.
Fonterra Managing Director of Global Operations Robert Spurway says the cooperative has seen growth in consumer and food service categories, and Clandeboye's expansion will form a key part of that success in the future.
Twenty-four hours-a-day production at the plant began immediately. "We're seeing the popularity of cheese really take off in Asia, so the timing of this upgrade couldn't be better," said site manager Steve McKnight.
The author has served large Western dairy readers for the past 38 years and manages Hoard's WEST, a publication written specifically for Western herds. He is a graduate of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, majored in journalism and is known as a Western dairying specialist.
