China’s leading dairy producer, Yili Group has announced a NZ$70 million (US$43.2 million) investment in its New Zealand subsidiary, Westland Milk Products.
The new investment will be used to construct a new lactoferrin plant at Westland’s Hokitika facility. This new plant will more than triple Westland production capacity of lactoferrin, while at the same time also capable of producing spray-dried lactoferrin on top of the company’s freeze-dried range. This will give it an alternative method of production which will broaden its appeal and sales. The new plant is expected to be completed by the first half of 2024.
Presently, the production capacity at Hokitika currently stands at 20 metric tonnes annually. Lactoferrin is currently facing rapid growth in global demand due to its perceived health benefits. Westland is NZ’s sole commercial producer of bovine colostrum powder and the new investment is likely to place Westland as the top 3 leading global companies in the lactoferrin category, with a market share of approximately 10%.
Westland CEO Richard Wyeth said, “We cannot improve on the incredible quality of the natural product our farmers produce day after day but we can ensure that we extract maximum value for that product, and our lactoferrin strategy is a critical part of that. Our bioactive ingredients innovation pipeline is well advanced, and we’re excited to be a step closer to bringing these concepts to commercialisation.”
Westland recorded high annual revenue of NZ$1.04 billion (US$645.4 million) in 2022, representing a 27% jump. Its parent, Yili generated revenue of Rmb 110.6 billion (US$15.5 billion) in fiscal year 2021. Yili rescued the debt-laden Westland by acquiring it in mid-2019.
