Fonterra and Future Consumer Limited have agreed to terminate their 50:50 joint venture in India – Fonterra Future Dairy which was established in 2018 and has 22 employees.
According to the press release – the last few years have been challenging for the joint venture with pandemic and resultant lockdowns causing significant disruption to the Indian market.
Despite this, Fonterra Future Dairy has delivered some important initiatives, including the launch of the Dreamery brand which is a range of consumer products made using Indian milk, and distribution of Fonterra’s New Zealand Anchor Food Professionals products for the foodservice sector – both of which have received positive feedback from consumers and customers.
The Co-op entered the joint venture as a capital-light way to test the Indian market, which has a large dairy consuming population but restrictive trade access for New Zealand dairy.
Commenting on the decision to scale back India JV Fonterra Future Dairy, Judith Swales, Asia Pacific CEO at Fonterra said, “We will continue to have a presence in India through Anchor Food Professionals and our Ingredients business, and will explore opportunities to grow access for our New Zealand milk as they come up.”