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Fonterra

Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited
Cooperative
Traded as NZX: FCG
Industry Manufacturing, retail, Foodservice
Founded 16 October 2001 (2001-10-16)
Headquarters Auckland, New Zealand
Products Milk, butter, cheese, ice-cream
Revenue DecreaseNZ$17.2 billion (2015-16)
DecreaseNZ$266 million (2015-16)
Profit IncreaseNZ$$834 million (2013-14)
Total assets Decrease NZ$17.118 billion (2015-16)
Total equity Increase NZ$6.947 billion (2015-16)
Number of employees
22,000
Subsidiaries Anchor, Anmum, Anlene, Mainland Cheese, Tip Top, Soprole
Website fonterra.com

Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited /ˈfɒnˌtɛrə/ is a New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative owned by around 10,500 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ$17.2 billion, is New Zealand's largest company.

The name Fonterra comes from Latin fons de terra, meaning "spring from the land".

In New Zealand, as in most Western countries, dairy co-operatives have long been the main organisational structure in the industry. The first dairy co-operative was established in Otago in 1871. By 1920, there were 600 dairy processing factories of which about 85% were owned by co-operatives. In the 1930s there were around 500 co-operatives but after World War II, improved transportation, processing technologies and energy systems led to a trend of consolidation, where the co-operatives merged and became larger and fewer in number. By the late 1990s, there were four co-operatives: the Waikato-based New Zealand Dairy Group, the Taranaki-based Kiwi Co-operative Dairies, Westland Milk Products and Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company.

Fonterra was formed in 2001 from the merger of the two largest co-operatives, New Zealand Dairy Group and Kiwi Co-operative Dairies, together with the New Zealand Dairy Board, which had been the marketing and export agent for all the co-operatives. Fonterra effectively has monopsony control of the New Zealand domestic and export dairy industry. The merger was initially turned down by the New Zealand Commerce Commission, but later approved by the New Zealand Government, with subsequent legislation deregulating the dairy industry, allowing for the export of dairy products to be undertaken by any company. The two smaller co-operatives, Tatua and Westland, did not join Fonterra, preferring to remain independent.


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