Our ingredients will give your chocolate and confectionery products a natural richness and mouthfeel for unbeatable creaminess and flavour.

Chocolate & confectionery

Our ingredients can be used in a wide range of bakery applications, our attention to detail ensures that consumers enjoy the premium quality they expect.

Bakery

Ingredients suitable for high quality cheese products.

Cheese

Our ingredients provide a clean, milky flavour to canned milk products.

Canned milk

From bespoke creations to classic crowd-pleasers. Our ingredients hero full flavour, nutritional value and creamy texture.

Ice cream

Our ingredients have your yoghurt and cultured needs covered, ensuring full flavour, creamy texture and nutrition. 

Yogurt & cultured foods

Providing nutritional benefits and a clean, milky flavour to liquid milk and other ready to drink products.

RTD liquid milk & beverages

Our ingredients are perfect for a range of formulations. Natural in richness and a creamy, full flavour mouthful. 

Dips, sauces & desserts

Ingredients to provide clean, milky flavour and whitening to coffee creamer applications.

Coffee creamer

Ingredients that will give your powdered beverages a delicious milky flavour, with multiple nutritional benefits.

Powdered beverages

With a clean, natural taste that adds function, texture and nutritional benefits to your performance products. 

Performance nutrition

A range of specialty ingredients made with the highest care, attention and superior quality necessary for paediatric nutrition.

Paediatric nutrition

A range of ingredients that are nutritionally rich and recognised for helping stimulate cell growth and support immunity. 

Health supplements

Take advantage of the antimicrobial and oral health benefits that can be provided by bioactives. 

Oral hygiene

Take advantage of the antimicrobial and skin care benefits that can be provided by bioactives.

Skin care

Join our Head of Ingredients, Tony Rayner, and Global Account Manager, Jonathan Saunders, as they take you behind the scenes at Food Ingredients China in Shanghai last month.

Inside Food Ingredients China

The team spent time meeting with both new and existing customers and gaining valuable insights on what’s happening in the Chinese dairy industry.

The key takeaway was how rapidly China’s dairy product mix has developed in the last few years, with a clear direction toward valorisation.  Use of locally produced butter, skim milk powder, and proteins such as casein is increasing, with exports of some of these products also on the rise.

Milk collection on the rugged West Coast of New Zealand is no small feat.

Behind the scenes of milk collection

Milk collection on the rugged West Coast of New Zealand is no small feat.  

Every day, our tankers set out on long-haul routes, navigating remote landscapes and unpredictable weather to ensure fresh milk reaches Westland’s processing sites on time. Some round trips can take up to 14 hours, the drivers often facing tough road conditions navigating state highways, gravel roads and farm tracks.  

Each of the 28 trucks in our tanker fleet is on the road 24 hours a day/seven days a week, collecting milk from our around 400 suppliers from Karamea in the north to south of Fox Glacier and east to supplier farms in Canterbury as far south as Glenavy. 

The trucks travel around 210,000 kilometres a year, carrying loads ranging from 29,000 litres of milk up to 39,000 litres for the bigger units. 

Behind the scenes, a complex logistical system is at work to keep operations running smoothly and ensure customers receive a reliable supply of high-quality dairy ingredients. To meet growing demand and adjust to evolving farm practices, Westland is making key investments in its milk collection network. Traditionally we’ve replaced our trucks every five years to ensure driver and public safety and efficiency,  

Three larger tankers are on their way to improve efficiency, alongside an upgrade to the scheduling system at the Hokitika processing site. These changes will help streamline collection times and allow us to adapt better to the shifting milking schedules on farms, which now range from traditional twice-a-day milking to milking once-a-day and at 16-hour intervals. 

Communication is critical in milk collection, as both farmers and processors navigate seasonal fluctuations, production shifts, and unexpected disruptions. The ability to quickly adjust to changes - such as colostrum and A2 collection requirements - ensures Westland can maintain a steady and consistent supply of fresh milk for processing its high-quality products. 

Every step in the collection process plays a role in delivering dairy ingredients of the highest quality. Efficient scheduling means shorter transport times, preserving milk freshness from farm to factory. Investing in logistics and infrastructure ensures supply chain reliability, giving customers confidence that their dairy supply will remain steady, even as industry demands evolve. 

With a focus on efficiency, quality, and adaptability, Westland is committed to refining its milk collection processes to meet the needs of both its farmers and customers. As these improvements take shape, the goal remains the same, keeping the supply chain moving and delivering the best of New Zealand dairy to the world. 

We’re excited to introduce Yifan Li, Westland’s Head of Group Supply and Infant Nutrition Sales.

Introducing Yifan Li

Head of Group Supply and Infant Nutrition Sales.

We’re excited to introduce Yifan Li, Head of Group Supply and Infant Nutrition Sales. Yifan plays a critical role in managing both our internal supply to Yili Group and our growing external infant nutrition business. With years of experience and a deep understanding of the industry, he’s driving innovation opportunities with his customers and ensuring Westpro remains a trusted partner in the global market. In this Q&A, Yifan shares insights into his role, what sets us apart, and what excites him most about the future of infant nutrition. 

Let’s start with an introduction.  What is your role and what’s your background?  

I am the Head of Group Supply and Infant Nutritional Sales. Apart from looking after all internal supply from Westland & Oceania Dairy (ODL) to Yili Group in China (including infant powder, adult powder, butter, UHT milk, UHT cream etc), I also manage all external infant sales to the rest of the world. This adds up to a large customer base with a total of 29 specifications, and the number is still growing. 

What does a typical day look like in your role?  

A typical day is always very busy—taking orders, working with the supply chain, talking with the quality team, checking with the finance team, and discussing new opportunities with the R&D team for exciting innovations. It’s a lot of work, but also a lot of fun! 

Can you give us an overview of Westpro’s (produced at ODL) current infant base powder and canning business?  

After five years of developing the external customer market, ODL has become the industry leader in OEM base powder formulations in New Zealand. This strong foundation also provides a strategic advantage for expanding into the canning business. 

What makes us and the Glenavy plant well-suited to manufacture infant nutrition powder?  

We have successfully collaborated with Yili, consistently meeting their high-quality standards to ensure the safety and consistency of our products. 

Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities comply with global food safety and infant formula regulations, while our stringent quality control processes adhere to international standards such as Codex and country-specific food safety requirements. 

With advanced nutritional formulation capabilities, we develop tailored formulations incorporating DHA, probiotics, and hypoallergenic ingredients to meet evolving market demands. 

What are the key benefits to our customers working with us for this?  

We ensure a reliable and secure supply chain, consistently delivering high-quality infant formula powders. 

Our flexible customisation options allow customers to tailor formulations and create differentiated products, all while meeting stringent global regulatory standards for market approval. 

With diverse partnership models, we provide the right solutions - whether customers need base powders or fully finished formulas. 

Thanks to our efficient production capabilities, strong supply chain management, and economies of scale, we offer cost-effective solutions without compromising on quality, helping our customers stay competitive in the market. 

From your perspective, what sets us apart from other manufacturers in the industry? 

What truly sets us apart from other manufacturers in the industry is our ability to deliver high-quality, customised solutions backed by strong expertise and a proven track record. Our combination of expertise, flexibility, and commitment to quality makes us on track to be a great choice in partner for infant nutrition solutions worldwide. 

Can you share any customer feedback that highlights what they value most about working with us? 

Our external infant business has grown through partnerships with many small customers rather than relying on a single large client. What sets us apart - and what our customers value most - is our commitment to fairness, flexibility, and unwavering support. 

We increased the volume of products we shipped out in the last quarter of 2024 following a strong start to the milk season, high demand for our milk products and our ability to process and deliver the higher volume of our product to our customers.

Westland increases sales on the back of increased milk supply and strong product demand

Westland increases sales on the back of increased milk supply and strong product demand.

We increased the volume of products we shipped out in the last quarter of 2024 following a strong start to the milk season, high demand for our milk products and our ability to process and deliver the higher volume of our product to our customers.  

Figures show that we shipped out 60,000 metric tonnes of our products in the fourth quarter of 2024, a 14% increase on the 53,000 metric tonnes for the same period in 2023.  

The tonnage included a 100% increase in amount of butter shipped vs the same time last year while we also lifted our colostrum, UHT milk and UHT cream shipment volumes significantly.  

The 2024/25 milk season got away to a great start with early season production up on previous years and ahead of predictions after a mild winter resulting in good grass growth and cows calving in excellent condition on Westland supplier’s farms. It also meant a strong season for producing colostrum, a product sought after world-wide. During the peak of the season the company was producing almost 1000 tonnes of finished milk products across our manufacturing sites on our highest production days.  

Kevin Wang, General Manager – Supply Chain, says “both our export and domestic markets are performing strongly. The increased product demand is across the board for both our fat and protein portfolios”. 

“We have been able to bring in additional milk from external parties to ensure that we can increase our production capacity across our processing operation to meet the current demand for our milk products. Across the production and supply chain, our teams have done so well to convert the higher volume of milk into sought-after product.” 

“Peak production means we’re busy at every part of the process, from our farmer suppliers to our warehouse teams working 24/7 packing the goods into containers for export, at times averaging 40 containers a day.” 

Kevin Wang says that given the nature of the New Zealand milk production curve, the peak for shipping out product is always November and December. “It’s not always easy to execute given the holiday season. We have faced a number of challenges including resourcing our warehouses, vessel schedule changes, container shortage, transportation resources, constraints around external laboratory testing and customer port permit issues,” he says, 

“However, as the results show, our teams did so well and there was incredible teamwork between sales, order management, quality, production and the supply chain.” 

Westland Milk Products wishes to advise that Zhiqiang Li is the company’s acting Chief Executive Officer, effective, Friday, January 31 2025.

Change of management at Westland.

This follows the resignation of former CEO, Richard Wyeth. Mr Li will continue his role as Executive Director Yili Group Australia and NZ.

“Much has been achieved by the company during Richard’s management,’’ Mr Li said.  “Westland has enjoyed enormous success in important markets such as the US with Westgold Butter and our investment in production facilities for high-value ingredients places us in a strong position to continue this trend.’’

Westland Milk Products are now 100% owners of Pure Nutrition, a dairy blending and canning facility in Canterbury New Zealand.

Consumer milk powder co-pack capability

Westland Milk Products are now 100% owners of Pure Nutrition, a dairy blending and canning facility in Canterbury New Zealand. 

The Pure Nutrition processing plant is a state-of-the-art infant and dairy manufacturing facility which has capability to blend and fill consumer cans, with or without a scoop, in sizes from 200g up to 900g.  

Our Westpro team can ensure you have direct access to the premium dairy ingredients you need for your recipe, such as our Westpro BioactiveMax Lactoferrin and Colostrum, our Westpro Agglomerated Skim Milk & Whole Milk powders, Westpro RapidPRO Whey Protein Concentrates, and Westpro TotalPRO Milk Protein Concentrates.  

Get in touch with Nicola Covich to see how we can work together to bring your brand of consumer powder blend, sports beverage or infant/toddler nutrition product to market. 

Farmers supplying Westland and who have been strong performers in our regional New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are unanimous when it comes to the benefits entering the awards can bring.

We are growing Westpro’s product reach worldwide

We’ve mapped out just how far and wide we are sending our high-quality milk products and a positive is that we are poised to extend our market reach even further this year.

We are growing Westpro’s product reach worldwide.

Westpro products were shipped into 120 ports across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia and North America last year, compared with 108 ports the previous year. 

We also welcomed 46 new customers. We are expecting further growth in our market reach this year given likely expansion in existing markets, along with the development of several exciting new markets. 

Tony Rayner, Head of Ingredients, says “Westpro currently has a good spread of distribution across multiple countries. There are a number of growing markets such as Indonesia, where we have a strong in-market offering. We believe we have created the right direct or via-distributor mix to service the market faster”  

India and Mexico are also growing markets for Westpro with some strong customers in both regions having good long-term growth aspirations while Brazil and Sri Lanka are identified as two exciting markets in the plan for 2025. 

Last year we took the opportunity at Agfest 2024, an event held every two years to recognise the importance of the agricultural sector to our home, the West Coast, to show our farmer suppliers what we do with their milk and where it ends up. We focused on the journey from farm to market of Westpro NutriSein Casein, BioactiveMAX Lactoferrin and Westgold Butter. According to feedback, the number and range of countries we export products to, sourced from the milk of their grass-fed cows was a bit of an eyeopener.

Entering Dairy Awards brings reward

Over the past two seasons, four of our Westland-supplying farms have featured strongly in the West Coast/Top of the South Dairy Industry Awards.

As a proud sponsor of the awards, Westland is encouraging our farmers to keep up this tradition by entering this season’s coming awards to showcase their own careers as well as the benefits of farming in our region.

A decision five years ago to choose farming over nursing culminated in Moana farmer Trinity Jackson winning West Coast/Top of the South Regional Dairy Manager of the Year last season.

Encouraged by her fiancé Tristan to try dairy farming, Trinity discovered a new passion in farming and decided to run with it.

“I love that dairying is not just a job but a lifestyle,’’ Trinity said. “I love everything about it from animal husbandry to working in the outdoors with my girls and some amazing people.’’

 She says she found even just the process of entering the awards extremely beneficial.

 “The feedback from the preliminary and finals judges was extremely beneficial to my presentation going forward to the nationals and also the constructive advice I received for my career in the industry,’’ she said.

 “I’ve made a lot of industry connections and as well proved a lot to myself. I’m very proud to not only be a representation for other rural woman in the industry, but to have done it while heavily pregnant! I truly proved to myself I can do anything I set my mind to with the right motivation.’’

 For the in 2022-23 Awards, Ireland Cain continued a strong farm tradition when she won the West Coast/Top of the South Regional Dairy Trainee Award. In 2022, she entered the awards after her employers took home the Share Farmer of the Year award in 2021 and was awarded the emerging talent award.

 “Proud as punch I re-entered the following year and took home big one!’’ she said.

 West Coast/Top of the South Regional Share Farmers Award winners in 2022-2023 Maria and Ricky Johnson say they primarily entered the awards that year to gain advice.

 Details on how to enter can be found here. 

The popularity of bovine colostrum has skyrocketed in recent years, with well-being influencers across all the popular social media platforms talking about the latest colostrum supplements to boost immunity, enhance athletic performance, support digestive health and more.

The Unique Challenges of Collecting Colostrum in New Zealand

The Unique Challenges of Collecting Colostrum in New Zealand.

Colostrum is the first milk produced after birth and is a rich source of macro and micronutrients, immunoglobulins and peptides with anti-microbial activity and growth factors (Playford & Weiser, 2021). It is used predominantly in nutritional supplements, but also skincare, pet and sports nutrition.

New Zealand had developed a small but lucrative market for bovine colostrum powder alongside its rapidly growing dairy export market, since at least the year 2000. However, on 1st September 2012, China’s Ministry of Health banned the use of bovine colostrum and related products in infant formula due to a lack of safety data (high calcium, casein and estrogen) (He, 2012). Bovine colostrum is not allowed to be added to infant formula in most markets, and the majority of the colostrum powder sold in China at this time was from New Zealand. Fonterra and Synlait subsequently stopped producing colostrum powder altogether.

Westland Milk Products has been producing colostrum for over 20 years and is the only major New Zealand manufacturer of bovine colostrum powder to this day. We have a small number of loyal and long-standing customers, primarily based in New Zealand and the USA. Finished products containing colostrum are primarily exported from NZ to South Korea, China, SEA, the EU and the USA.

The majority of bovine colostrum powder on the world market comes from the USA where recently Glanbia has acquired two of the largest producers and manufactures more bovine colostrum powder than the rest of the world combined. Despite the raw material from Westland Milk Products being considerably more expensive than US sources, our customers are able to position their products as trusted, premium quality, genuine New Zealand origin products from beneath the Southern Alps.

Colostrum supply has struggled to keep up with booming consumer demand in recent times, and in New Zealand especially, we have some unique challenges associated with the collection, storage and processing of colostrum.

Pasture Based Farming System more difficult for colostrum collection

New Zealand has a grass-fed pasture-based dairy farming system supported by moderate temperatures, fertile soil, plentiful rainfall and abundant sunshine. This means that dairy cows have daily access to grass except when it is necessary to temporarily remove cows from pasture for milking, veterinary advice, transportation, regulatory compliance or environmental conditions. Cows that graze on pasture are perceived to have a better quality of life as they can exhibit their natural behaviours.
In the USA most cows are housed indoors or in more intensive farming systems which enables closer monitoring during calving and subsequently colostrum may be collected much earlier under this farming model. 
Logistically it is more difficult for farmers in New Zealand to monitor the calving process, and subsequently milk cows and collect colostrum under the grass-fed farming system, as the cows are outside calving in paddocks.

Calving, colostrum collection and spring-like conditions make for a frantic time of year

The New Zealand pasture-based farming system results in a specific grass growth curve based on our seasons. This in turn drives our calving season which starts from mid-July to mid-August across the country. The average herd size in New Zealand is 441 cows, so with almost all expected to calve within ten weeks this is a busy time of year on farm. Merge this with the start of Spring-like weather conditions, re-sowing winter crop paddocks and an increase in grass growth and you have the busiest time on the dairy farming calendar.

Collecting colostrum on-top of these other demands at this time of year can be a stretch on resources (Piddock, 2023).

This chart illustrates the milk curve for New Zealand starting in spring each year. It follows that our herds are in calf for a shorter period of the year in New Zealand compared to the USA and EU, where staggered calving across the year produces a flatter milk curve.

The Farmgate Milk Price determines the enthusiasm farmers have for colostrum supply

Milk processors in  New Zealand use a Farmgate Milk Price (FGMP) to pay their farmers for milk supplied. For New Zealand dairy companies, this price is directly linked to the market price achieved on the twice-monthly GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) trading event for referenced commodity dairy products such as Whole Milk Powder, Skim Milk Powder, and Butter (Fonterra, 2024). When global prices are high, and the FGMP is good or very good, the payoff for the additional work required to collect colostrum is less attractive to our farmer suppliers. Subsequently when FGMP is low farmers are more likely to want to retain colostrum to feed to their calves rather than buying in calf milk replacer to feed them.

Calves require colostrum for optimal health

There is increasing awareness of how important it is for a calf to receive sufficient antibodies from quality colostrum within the first 12 hours of life.

Unlike a human baby, calves do not receive any passive immunity from their mother in utero making this first feed critical for their health outcomes. It is also the reason why bovine colostrum is a richer source of bioactive compounds than human colostrum (Moran, 2012).

A calf needs 3-4 litres of colostrum in its first 12 hours of life. At 24 hours old, the calf gut “closes” and becomes unable to absorb antibodies so surplus colostrum is collected for processing after this without affecting the health outcomes of the calves (Colostrum, 2024). In addition more Bobby Calves are being kept in the dairy-beef sector as a future food source and thus with more mouths to feed, farmers are sometimes reluctant to forgo additional or surplus colostrum (Jolly, 2016).

Considerable logistics required when processing fresh colostrum

At Westland Milk Products we know that to preserve and maximise the bioactivity of our colostrum products, we need to process from fresh not frozen colostrum. This means for five weeks from early August to mid-September, we are busy collecting and processing colostrum every day. In other parts of the world, particularly the USA where the bulk of the world’s bovine colostrum is processed, farmers will freeze their colostrum which is then collected at a later date for transport to the processor.

There are significant logistical efficiencies achieved when freezing and consolidating the volumes for processing, but at Westland we firmly believe that processing from fresh has a beneficial impact on the quality and efficacy of the finished product.

In recent years, Westland Milk Products has seen demand for our colostrum products that far exceeds our ability to supply. It takes significant effort and resources to set up new farmer suppliers with the facilities to collect colostrum on farm, and provide the support and education needed to deliver a quality product that does not compromise the welfare of the calves. However, Westland is committed to growing our colostrum pool to meet the increasing global demand for this highly valued product. Our farmer suppliers that contribute to our colostrum programme put in an extraordinary effort at a very busy time of year to supply us with their surplus colostrum from the first two milkings, but the additional returns they gain from this short period are more than worth the effort.

Talk to our Westpro Bioactives team should you have any enquiries.

Colostrum. (2024). Retrieved from DairyNZ: https://www.dairynz.co.nz/animal/calves/colostrum/

Fonterra. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.fonterra.com/nz/en/investors/farmgate-milk-price/milk-price-methodology.html

He, N. (2012, Jul 27). China Banned Bovine Colostrum in Infants Foods since 1 September. Retrieved from ChemLinked: https://food.chemlinked.com/news/food-news/china-banned-bovine-colostrum-infants-foods-1-september

Jolly, A. (2016). Bobby calves: The game changers within New Zealand's supply chain. Retrieved from Rural Leaders: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/awxwahy5osyasgogqry7l/Jolly__Andrew_Bobby_Calves_-_The_game_changers_within_NZ_s_supply_chain.pdf?rlkey=jlpso1btmqz4nr64wk10l0hvx&e=1&dl=0

Moran, J. (2012, Nov 1). CSIRO Publishing. Retrieved from The Importance of Colostrum to Newborn Calves: https://www.publish.csiro.au/ebook/chapter/9780643107427_Chapter5

Piddock, G. (2023, December 14). Farmers Weekly. Retrieved from https://farmersweekly.co.nz/farm-management/cow-numbers-fall-3-5-in-latest-dairy-stats/

Playford, R. J., & Weiser, M. J. (2021, Jan 18). Bovine Colostrum: Its Constituents and Uses. Retrieved from National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7831509/

Westland Milk Products. (2018, June). Dairy Industry Restructuring Act Review. Retrieved from Ministry for Primary Industries: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/31200/direct

Westpro has increased its capacity to produce high quality skim milk powder with the addition of product from its sister company Oceania Dairy Limited plant at Glenavy, South Canterbury.

Glenavy plant boosts skim milk powder production

Glenavy plant boosts skim milk powder production.

We have upgraded the dryer at Glenavy so it can produce more skim milk powder and this in turn has had the flow on effect of increasing the volume of Westpro’s total skim milk powder portfolio. 

With the integration of Westland and Oceania Dairy Limited, both owned by the Global Top 5 dairy company, Yili Group, we are using all dryers and production facilities as efficiently as possible.

We are also very mindful of efficiencies processing our suppliers’ milk as close to where we pick it up from. 

The skim milk powder produced is the same great quality that our customers are used to purchasing. We have the same transparency through the supply chain at Glenavy as we do with our West Coast operation. Westpro now has a wider window of opportunity to grow the instant (agglomerated) skim milk powder market. It also opens up the potential for future products, including more specialised differentiated products from the Glenavy production plant.

We are optimising all dryers so that we have a more consistent particle distribution irrespective of what site or dryer it is produced on.

With the first couple of runs of the season complete we have had positive feedback with one repacking customer saying there has been a 4% improvement in yield given the powder flows well as the particles are more uniform. Instant (agglomerated) skim milk powder is sought after as it disperses easily, making it ideal for beverages.

Our Head of Customer Experience at Westland Milk Products.

Meet Nicki Fraser

Nicki Fraser is our Head of Customer Service, who has been with Westland Milk Products (Westland) for three years. We asked Nicki some questions and she shares her insights on leading a highly engaged team, exciting new innovations like the upcoming Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and the importance of building strong, lasting relationships with customers. Get to know more about Nicki’s approach to customer service and a few fun personal highlights below.

How long have you been with Westland, and what do you enjoy most about your job? I’ve been at Westland for 3 years this month. I’ve enjoyed drawing on my experience to develop a highly engaged team who genuinely care about giving the best possible service to our customers. Together with my team leaders, I believe we’ve created a really positive culture within our department, and I’ve led several improvement projects, enabling the team to work more efficiently, and in turn, make their roles more rewarding.

What upcoming products or innovations are you most excited to share with our customers? We will soon be implementing a CRM system which will allow for greater transparency across the sales and customer experience team, adding context to some of the communication and transactions. The CRM system will also feature a customer feedback function allowing us to gather valuable feedback from our customers to further improve our service and strengthen our relationship with them.

How do you ensure that customers receive the best possible service? Equip the team with the tools to do the job and always look for more efficient and rewarding ways to do things. We also work hard to collaborate with key departments across the business to ensure the customer’s needs are understood and met.

What do you believe is the key to building strong, lasting relationships with our customers? Timely communication is vital, which, given the time zone we operate in, is often via email so it needs to be clear. The team also love to build rapport with their customers and so, if workload permits, we try to maintain consistent support for each customer to allow for a deeper understanding.

If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? I’ve recently returned from a trip back home to the UK and tagged on a week in Greece which didn’t feel long enough, so I’d go back to Crete and spend longer there (but only if I could magically skip the 20+ hr flight).

What’s the most memorable concert or event you’ve ever attended? A long-time fan, I was lucky enough to see George Michael live several times, but his concert at the Royal Albert Hall backed by the London Symphony Orchestra was really special, although we were in the cheap seats at the top and nearly passed out due to the heat!

Want to chat more to Nicki? Get in touch with her today.

Westland is in the peak of its milk production season which got away to a strong start after a very mild winter resulted in good grass growth with cows calving in excellent condition.

Milk season off to a good start

Milk production, which opened on August 1, started well ahead of previous years and forecast, a trend that was mirrored across the country. Dairy Companies Association/NZX New Zealand figures show that nationally early season milk production is up by 6.5% YoY (September YTD).

We also had a strong season for producing colostrum, a product sought after world-wide, due to NZ origin claims and the quality of our finished product.

As we enter the traditional peak part of the season, the outlook for production remains on track barring any significant weather changes, such as that we experienced in mid-September and late October which reminded us of the unpredictability of weather in spring.

While our current production figures are good news, we are having to carefully manage our sites and production facilities to ensure all milk is processed efficiently into products such as butter, skim milk powder, casein or milk protein concentrate.

In October our businesses were processing over 4.2 million litres of milk a day. On our highest day we produce almost 1000 tonnes of finished products across our manufacturing sites. 

Peak production means we’re busy at every part of the process, from our farmer suppliers to our warehouse teams working 24/7 picking and packing the goods into containers for export, at times averaging 40 containers a day.

Our care for our staff, our communities and our environment recognised.

Westland Milk Products passes comprehensive SMETA/SEDEX audit.

Westland’s dedication to looking after our people and communities alongside our environment has culminated in us passing the rigorous 4-pillar SMETA/SEDEX audit, carried out at our Hokitika site where most Westpro products are produced.

It’s a significant milestone that underscores our commitment to excellence across key areas of our operations. It also supports our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy which is at the heart of our business operation.

Labour Standards: Ensuring fair and ethical treatment of all employees.

Health & Safety: Prioritising the well-being and safety of our workforce.

Environmental Stewardship: Implementing sustainable practices to protect our planet.

Business Ethics: Upholding the highest standards of integrity and transparency in our business practices.

Passing this comprehensive audit demonstrates our focus on maintaining and continually improving these critical aspects of our business.

Thank you to everyone who gave us feedback in our Voice of Customer surveys over the past two years.

We value our customer feedback.

Thank you to everyone who gave us feedback in our Voice of Customer surveys over the past two years. 

For the past two years we have invited 118 customers to participate in the online survey.

Our 2023 overall ratings were outstanding. Our average score was 7.8, the same as the previous year, but with the verbatim comments slightly more positive. Our customer’s commitment to continue working with us improved to 8.4 (from last year’s 8.2) with 32% of those surveyed giving us the perfect score of 10 out of 10 for customer commitment (an increase from 25% in 2022) and over three quarters of customers gave us a satisfaction score of 8 out of 10 or higher (78% compared with 66% in 2022). There was also a pleasing increase in our net promoter score (how likely are you to recommend Westland) which increased from 52 to 54.

The survey showed that our strengths are the people and staff our customers interact with as well as our high-quality products produced in a clean, green environment. Among the many kudos to our staff, our customers say they do an excellent job, have strong relationships, are easy to deal with, are quick to react and respond and are knowledgeable, providing trusted advice.

Another positive is that our customers are more aware of the Westpro brand which we refreshed last year. This is helped in part by ensuring the brand is more visible on uniforms, presentations and sales collateral. 

From the survey results we recognise there are opportunities to improve communications to our customers ranging from more information about trends and market information to the regularity and timeliness of detailed shipment and pricing information. Our customers want to be kept in the loop with updates, particularly when there are issues around supply or transport. There is also the opportunity to better connect staff with customers seeking specific information on innovation and research and development, the business and products and technology and documentation.

We listen to what you tell us and to address the issues raised in previous surveys we are :

Rolling out a customer relationship management (CRM) tool to automate some communications and help share customer information across the wider team.

Developing a customer onboarding process – bringing customers up to speed on Westland’s way of working, key contacts, and processes.

Providing customers who request it, with an order status report so that they know where their order is in the process. The updates conclude at shipment.

Publishing a bi-monthly newsletter to keep customers informed on market trends, Westpro performance, product information and how the business is going. You can sign up here.

We will continue with our annual survey as it keeps us honest and gives insight into key areas affecting your business and how we can improve our service to you. We would like to make it part of a larger Voice of Customer strategy which will include various touch points such as understanding service levels on a regular basis when you interact with the order management team and developing a more structured onboarding process.

Our Global Account Manager, specialising in the sales of Westpro Milk Powder and Proteins across New Zealand, Australia, and the Middle East.

Meet Brett Paterson

Our sales team is dedicated to working closely with you to get the best outcome and product for your application. We’ve had the opportunity to ask Brett a few questions so you can learn more about his role, approach to customer engagement and get to know him a little better.

What is your role, and what does a typical day look like for you?

I am the Global Account Manager for Westpro Ingredients at Westland, currently working in the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand regions.  A typical day would involve balancing our stock and upcoming production with customer forecasts and new business opportunities and converting our available product into firm sales. Trying to achieve the best result for Westland while at the same time working with and supporting customers with product to support their requirements. 

How long have you been with Westland, and what do you enjoy most about your job?

Contact us today to find out more about our Westpro product range.

WESTLAND MILK PRODUCTS

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