Fonterra & # 39; humming & # 39; in Greater China – Zhu

Fonterra's top executive in China says the company's activities are "buzzing" despite the problems with its investment in infant formula manufacturer Beingmate.

Titles around Fonterra in China focus on its 18.8% stake in Beingmate Last year, Christina Zhu, the best leader of Fonterra in China, does not stand up to Beingmate's problems

. Beingmate has named Bao Xiufei, former head of FrieslandCampina, as managing director, which Fonterra sees as a step in the right direction.

Zhu said that Beingmate's advertising problems were well known. tended to obscure the broader picture of Fonterra's operations in China.

"Obviously, Beingmate's performance over the last two years is just not acceptable," Zhu, who sits on the Be the Board of Directors said at the time. telephone interview with China

"The group did their best to do everything possible to improve this," she said. But she admits that there was a real difference between holding 18.8% and 100%

"That's why you see a stark contrast between the performance of Fonterra Greater China – at the same time. exclusion of Beingmate – and the performance of Beingmate. " [19659002"IunderstandthatitattractsalotofattentionanditisagreatpriorityforusasagroupyetanotherpointofviewisapartofglobalactivityinChina"

"And the overall business in China The general manager Theo Spierings said in the first six months of Fonterra that while Beingmate's investment had underperformed, Greater China of the cooperative had positive results.

Zhu said that food security is paramount in China, and the Beingmate's record on this point was strong.In general, she said that Fonterra was expecting the performance of Beingmate to be better "and we have reason to believe that it can be better."

"We believe that the fundamentals of the industry are still strong and that Beingmate has the right to play, and a right to win, on this market. "

Zhu says that a group of farmer shareholders has left A recent visit with a new appreciation of what it takes to do business there.

"They have seen that it is big, difficult, complicated, dynamic – how can this market be ruthless and what it takes to succeed here"

She says that what usually goes beyond them , is the size – where only one speaker can accommodate up to 100,000 people.

She would like to be able to reproduce the exercise for others so that more people can "understand"

China remains an important part of Fonterra's operations and is the largest market in terms scale and volume.

"It's definitely the most strategic and unique market," she says. "I think it's really important not to lose sight of it."

"China is still the largest infant formula market in the world, it continues to grow the fastest and remains the most attractive in terms of price It is also important to point out that the most important" right to play " on the market is food safety, "she said

Fonterra accounts for 35 percent of China's total dairy imports.

" It's huge and this dependency is reciprocal – because that about a quarter of our volume goes to China too, "she said.

Fonterra put her money where she is in China having invested $ 755 million in Beingmate and spent $ 800 on the Fonterra has expanded its portfolio of butter, cheese and yogurt.

In just five years, Anchor has become the leading brand of imported milk in China

.] It notes that local milk production will not grow in China because the land is not well suited to dairy farming.

"Self-sufficiency (in dairy products) is not a high priority compared to other foods," she says. "The future is therefore relatively clear, it is the most strategic and the most unique market," she says. "I think it's really important not to lose sight of that."