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Fonterra

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Sector Consumer Cyclical
Industry Packaged Foods
Employees 10,000+
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FY2014 Annual Report · Fonterra
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FROM 
THE 
SOURCE

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 
FONTERRA CO-OPERATIVE GROUP LIMITED

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN 

LETTER FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE 

FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY 

GROUP OVERVIEW 

BUSINESS REVIEW 

SUSTAINABILITY  
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

FONTERRA MANAGEMENT TEAM 

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT 

STATUTORY INFORMATION 

FIVE YEAR SUMMARY 

NON-GAAP MEASURES 

GLOSSARY 

2

12

26

28

30

42

52

60

62

64

82

83

84

86

87

FONTERRA CO-OPERATIVE GROUP LIMITED ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

This is a defining year for our  
Co-operative. We are confident 
about our performance and 
our direction.

We live by our values. Our 
strategic goals are becoming 
reality. We have hit all the 
targets for global scale in 
processing and exporting.

Now is the time to set our sights 
even higher.

Next step – a globally relevant 
Co-operative, the trusted source 
of dairy excellence.

TO 
THE 
FUTURE

 1

North Island 
volumes were up 
nine per cent while 
the South Island 
delivered a seven per 
cent rise in volumes.

FINAL CASH PAYOUT

$8.50 
$8.40KGMS

FARMGATE MILK PRICE

DIVIDEND PER SHARE

10CPS

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

LETTER
FROM 
THE
CHAIRMAN

Our farmers took advantage of good 
conditions to produce 1,584 million 
kgMS, eight per cent more than last 
season, to make the most of stronger 
prevailing prices early in the season. 
North Island volumes were up nine per 
cent at 969 million kgMS, while the 
South Island delivered a seven per cent 
rise in volumes to 615 million kgMS. 

Our strong Farmgate Milk Price is the 
direct result of a determined push to 
achieve the highest possible revenue. 
Despite it being a demanding year, 
we delivered a record $22.3 billion 
in revenue.

Our high production, especially around 
the extended peak, placed limits on our 
options for processing milk into higher 
returning products. The relative increase 
in the price of Reference Commodity 
Products compared to the price of 
Non-Reference Commodity Products, 
was significant for most of the year and 
this had a substantial impact on stream 
returns. Over the peak, the ideal would 
have been to produce only Reference 
Commodity Products, but capacity 
constraints limited our ability. For Non-
Reference Commodity Products we 
were compelled to produce, the higher 
cost of milk at the farmgate meant 
margins were squeezed and in some 
cases selling prices were below actual 
milk costs.

In the second half of the year, this 
divergence in prices decreased, but too 
late to offset the earlier financial impact. 

The true strength of our Co-operative 
is measured by our resilience. We have 
come through a very demanding year 
and continued to stay on track with our 
strategy, focusing on securing the best 
returns to our farmer shareholders. 

It was a year of highs and lows. We saw 
prices come off their first-half peaks in 
response to growth in supply. Demand 
tapered off as a result of a build in 
customers’ inventory and the New 
Zealand dollar remained at historically 
high levels. A very good spring saw 
our farmer shareholders achieve record 
milk production through an extended 
peak, stretching our production 
capacity for whole milk and skim milk 
powders which inform the Farmgate 
Milk Price. This led to early impacts on 
stream returns from the less valuable 
products we were forced to make. 
We also rebuilt consumer, customer 
and market confidence following the 
precautionary recall of Whey Protein 
Concentrate (WPC80).

Our final Cash Payout for the 2013/14 
season of $8.50 for a fully shared up 
farmer comprises a Farmgate Milk Price 
of $8.40 per kilogram of milk solids 
(kgMS) and a dividend of 10 cents per 
share. It is our highest Cash Payout 
to date, with the Farmgate Milk Price 
on its own representing a $13.3 billion 
distribution to farmers. We know from 
our 2010 New Zealand Institute of 
Economic Research (NZIER) study 
that the average dairy farmer spends 
over half of their income on goods 
and services to support on-farm 
operations, benefiting both rural and 
urban communities. 

2 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

3

 
CHAIRMAN’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Our farmers’ milk 
is the starting point 
for our supply chain 
and it completely 
underpins our volume 
and value strategy.

In February 2014, we announced that 
we would accelerate investment in new 
capacity so we have the manufacturing 
flexibility to take the best advantage 
of relative market prices, including 
during the peak. Post balance date, we 
announced $555 million of investments 
to continue our capacity expansion. 

Our result and final Cash 
Payout for the year has been 
very good given the volatile 
market conditions.

We can expect volatility to remain 
through the coming season, given 
the downward trend in prices and 
the geopolitical events which are 
unsettling the market. What is 
important, however, is to look beyond 
these cyclical events to see the overall 
positive outlook for demand.

4 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

0.30

0.10

0.27

0.32

0.32

6.10

7.60

6.08

5.84

8.40

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

CASH PAYOUT

Dividend ($ per share)

Farmgate Milk Price ($ per kgMS)

Higher milk volumes support higher 
sales volumes, and we have grown 
revenue from $13.9 billion in 2002 
to today’s $22.3 billion in the face of 
Fonterra’s NZD/USD average conversion 
rate that has gone from an average 
44 cents in 2002 to 81 cents in 2014. 
This revenue growth represents a 
compound annual growth rate of 
four per cent.

In simple terms we have grown 
revenue by 60 per cent since 2002. 
Adjusted for 2014 prices, the growth 
is still a very credible 20 per cent 
over the same period. Included in this 
revenue is a growing contribution 
from our consumer and foodservice 
businesses. They achieved $6.3 billion 
in revenue this year compared to the 
$4.6 billion earned in 2002/03.

The total Cash Payout, adjusted for 
inflation, has grown at an annual 
compound rate of five per cent while  
the payout per kilogram of milk solids 
has a compound annual growth rate of 
four per cent. 

This global dairy demand is forecast by 
market commentators to grow by 100 
billion litres by 2020. We are investing 
ahead of this growth demand, ensuring 
we have the capacity in place to capture 
the opportunities it represents. The 
more competitive our costs, from 
the farm onwards, the better our 
prospective returns.

The tighter budgets farmers will need 
to work within in the 2014/15 season 
will be a real challenge, reinforcing the 
need to use and adapt farming systems 
designed to protect our low-cost, 
predominantly pastured-based industry. 
We need to stay focused on our global 
competitiveness both within and from 
the farmgate and right across our supply 
chain to ensure we can capitalise on the 
positive view of global demand. 

THE BENEFITS OF BELONGING
Our farmers’ milk is the starting point 
for our supply chain and it completely 
underpins our volume and value 
strategy. We have leveraged it to create 
the global presence that takes their milk 
to market and it has won us our place as 
the world’s largest dairy exporter.

Our farmers’ efforts have built our global 
scale. Since 2002, Fonterra farmer 
shareholders have achieved an average 
annual compound growth of three per 
cent in milk solids. This means we have 
over 40 per cent more milk than we did 
in the first year of Fonterra.

INDEPENDENT REVIEW BUILT CONFIDENCE
The decision of the Board to undertake a robust, independent and open inquiry was fundamental to our recovery from the WPC80 
precautionary recall. The independent and impartial review, shared publicly, confirmed we have robust food safety and quality 
systems and standards but was frank about what we could have done better. 
We did what was right when faced with the evidence we had at the outset of the recall. We make no apology for putting customer 
and consumer safety first. While we ultimately received the all clear on the safety of the product recalled, we did not use this as a 
signal to relax. Instead, we have taken the opportunity to identify how we can further improve our food safety and quality systems 
and ensure full compliance with them. All the learnings from the experience have gone into the development of an extensive 
programme aimed at creating a new benchmark in food safety and quality.
The Board has oversight of the work to implement the recommendations set down by the Independent Inquiry Committee and 
Fonterra’s own internal review. The work needed to address the recommendations is now well underway.
A follow-up review by the Independent Inquiry Committee has both confirmed progress and complimented Fonterra on taking the opportunity 
to further lift standards. This open approach has been a clear factor in the confidence that our farmer shareholders, regulators, customers 
and consumers continue to have in Fonterra. It is this confidence in our integrity that supports our continued progress with our strategy.
It is important for New Zealand as a whole that producers and regulators work closely together to safeguard New Zealand’s 
reputation for high-quality food. It is critical that together we ensure industry and government resources are in place to stay ahead 
of the rapidly evolving demands of customers, consumers and regulators in all of our global markets.

OUR GLOBAL MILK POOLS WILL CREATE FULLY INTEGRATED 
SUPPLY CHAINS FROM FARMGATE TO THE CONSUMER. 

MILK 
POOLS

R&D, 
QUALITY  
& SAFETY

PROCESS 
& PACK

SALES & 
DISTRIBUTION

EXPORT  
& SHIP

CONSUMER

The Fonterra Milk 
Collection smartphone 
farmer app was 
introduced in 2014.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

5

 
CHAIRMAN’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Farmers are always 
the first to roll 
their sleeves up 
when something 
needs doing in the 
neighbourhood, on 
their own or through 
their Co-operative.

THE BENEFITS OF BELONGING 
(CONTINUED)
Our consistent performance to date is 
important to our future as it gives our 
farmer shareholders the confidence 
to grow supply. We aim to get better 
year-on-year to deliver sustainable 
returns. But it is just as important for 
our farmer shareholders to feel more 
than a financial connection to their 
Co-operative, especially given that there 
are competitors keen to secure their 
supply. They should be able to look to us 
to help them grow if they want to, and 
to run profitable businesses through the 
different phases of their farming careers. 

Our farmer shareholders can 
expect a lot more from us in the 
new financial year as we support 
them to be more cost competitive 
through using our Co-operative’s 
collective strength and bringing 
them better ways to manage 
their business with us. 

CO-OPERATIVE SPIRIT IN ACTION
There are two sides to Co-operative 
Spirit – one of our core values. One side 
is the idea of the collective strength that 
comes from working together to a single 
purpose. The other side is who we are as 
a community of people.

Our collective strength is well 
known, but our scale can sometimes 
overshadow our Co-operative’s 
contribution as a community of people. 
The work Fonterra is doing here in New 
Zealand is a good example. Farmers are 
always the first to roll their sleeves up 
when something needs doing in the 
neighbourhood, on their own or through 
their Co-operative. People have pitched 
in for generations, which is why we have 
such good networks of local community 
centres, sport and service clubs in rural 
New Zealand.

Thanks to Fonterra’s scale this 
tradition of pitching in has been able 
to grow from informal local efforts to 
more organised national or regional 
programmes. Our farmers are solidly 
behind these programmes as funders 
and, in many cases, leading or helping 
on these projects. Catchment Care, 
which looked after local water quality 
initiatives, has evolved to become 
our Living Water partnership with the 
Department of Conservation. Our 
KickStart Breakfast partnership with 
Sanitarium began running two days a 
week in low-decile schools in 2009. In 
the 2014 financial year, it was extended 
to five days a week and was offered to 
all schools following financial support 
from Government.

Farmer shareholders have turned out 
to every rollout event of Fonterra 
Milk for Schools across New Zealand. 
It’s their milk that is the backbone 
of this very worthwhile programme 
that provides milk to around 170,000 
children. They are also out there 
supporting local causes through our 
Grass Roots Programme, which funds 
local projects near our sites and in our 
farmers’ communities.

As community people, our farmer 
shareholders have also stepped up to 
the challenge of sustainable farming. 
They led by example in the rollout of 
the Clean Streams Accord of 2003 and 
have been working on water quality 
improvements since then. We have seen 
significant capital and hours of work 
invested in crossings, culverts, new 
effluent systems and riparian planting. 

This translates into tangible and 
measurable results, such as the 23,300 
kilometres of significant waterways that 
now have stock excluded from them. 
A further 9,000 km of smaller streams 
and wetlands are also stock excluded. 
This outstanding achievement more 
than underlines their commitment to 
sustainable dairying and improved 
water quality.

It is also important to acknowledge the 
many Fonterra employees around New 
Zealand and around the world who also 
give their time and talent to countless 
charities and community causes. They 
are quick to volunteer, to fundraise and 
to step up with big and small projects. 
We are a richer Co-operative because of 
this spirit.

6 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

MILK PRICE MATHS
The final Farmgate Milk Price is 53 cents per kgMS lower than the price calculated under the Farmgate Milk Price Manual.
It is a 17 cent reduction on the 70 cents gap in the forecast by the Board in December 2013 and reflects the improved relative 
stream returns between powders and other products in the second half of the year.
The Board exercised its discretion under the Constitution in order to protect the Co-operative by paying a lower Farmgate 
Milk Price than the price calculated under the Farmgate Milk Price Manual which would have required borrowing. Our 
decision to use our discretionary power this season should not be taken as an indication we will do so again in the future. 
We will always act in the best interests of the Co-operative.
The reason for the gap is straightforward. The Farmgate Milk Price Manual calculation is based on a notional and efficient 
competitor processing only milk powder and related product streams such as butter and Anhydrous Milk Fat (AMF)1. It 
effectively sets high efficiency benchmarks as the notional competitor has no capacity constraints. Fonterra, this season, 
had capacity constraints, which meant not all of the high milk flows supplied during the extended peak could be converted 
into the higher returning Reference Commodity Products which inform the Farmgate Milk Price Manual calculation.
Reference Commodity Products are milk powder and related streams. These products are chosen because powders account 
for more than half the global trade in dairy products, most new investment in New Zealand has been in milk powder plants 
and because in the medium term, the highest returns are expected to come from powders.

SETTING SIGHTS ON 
GOVERNANCE
It is important to sincerely thank 
Jim van der Poel, who is retiring as a 
director after 12 years of very dedicated 
and thoughtful service. Jim has been 
conscientious and hard-working, 
bringing his deep knowledge of dairying 
and business to the Board table. 

Our strength as a Co-operative relies on 
farmers having the opportunity to move 
from the cowshed to the boardroom. 
Our scale requires the next generation 
of farmers to set their sights on local 
leadership and ultimately a Fonterra 
directorship, and to understand what  
is required to get there. 

They need to take advantage of our 
Governance Development Programme 
which is a good stepping stone 
to gaining the wider governance 
experience on other commercial boards 
that potential directors should have. 
Our farmers are encouraged to look at 
the skills matrix published by the Board 
each year. These encourage younger 
leaders in their communities to build 
relevant experience to equip themselves 
for leadership roles in our Co-operative. 

DEVELOPMENTS
Post balance date we announced 
significant progress with our strategy 
to build volume and value, especially in 
our key strategic market of China. Our 
Beingmate development opens the door 
to higher sales of our branded Anmum™ 
product, as well as higher sales of 
ingredients from New Zealand, Australia 
and our milk pool in Europe.

This is a further example of Fonterra’s 
ability to form strategic partnerships 
that grow volume and value and 
leverage international milk pools. 
It follows on from our alliance with 
A-Ware in the Netherlands, which 
provides us access to high-quality 
whey protein and lactose for advanced 
nutrition applications, and our Dairy 
Crest alliance to market and sell 
products for the fast-growing infant 
food market.

We also continue to invest in growing 
capacity in New Zealand to increase our 
product flexibility and to accommodate 
increases in milk growth. Our new drier 
at Pahiatua comes on stream in the 
2016 financial year adding 2.4 million 
litres per day of additional capacity in 
the lower North Island. We are keeping 
pace with foodservice demand through 
the new UHT plant at Waitoa, additional 
cream cheese production capacity at 
Te Rapa and projects expanding 
mozzarella and slice-on-slice cheese 
production at Clandeboye and Eltham. 

The mix of powders and specialty 
products capacity enables us to meet 
demand that is growing across a range 
of products, maintain flexibility in what 
we make and ultimately ensure our 
farmers’ milk flows into the highest-
returning products.

Each of these projects adds 
employment in rural economies, with 
Fonterra creating 570 jobs in the past 
three years. This includes 110 roles at 
Darfield, 44 at Studholme and 90 in 
the Waikato for our UHT plant. We 
have increased the number of tanker 
operators by 120 over the same period. 
The figures exclude temporary seasonal 
employment opportunities and they 
reinforce the value of the dairy sector 
as an employer.

NZIER’s 2010 study estimated that the 
dairy sector employs around 35,000 
workers, excluding those who are 
self-employed, which could be up to 
10,000 people. The study determined 
dairy provides more jobs than each 
of the finance and accommodation 
sectors, around 65 per cent more than 
the sheep and beef farming sector, 75 
per cent more than the fruit growing 
sector and double the jobs in the wood 
processing sector. While Fonterra does 
not represent the sector entirely, our 
position as the sector’s largest business 
reinforces our view that the growth 
of our farmer shareholders and our 
own growth supports a healthy rural 
economy, and ultimately a vibrant 
New Zealand.

1  Milk is processed into groups of products within one ‘stream’, for example, when Skim Milk Powder is made, the downstream products are butter and buttermilk powder. 
  Combined these products form the stream covered in stream returns for Skim Milk Powder.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

7

 
8 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Investment 
and innovation  
have carved out 
our place as the 
leading supplier to 
the globally traded 
market for milk.

We keep seeing calls for Fonterra to 
produce fewer commodities and instead 
make more products that command a 
premium. Those comments miss the 
point that our strategy emphasises both 
volume and value for good reason.

The raw milk that goes into farm vats 
is highly perishable, which is why 
generations of investments by farmers 
have built up the processing assets 
which enable that milk to be exported 
around the world. That is how  
New Zealand earned its reputation for 
high-quality dairy exports. Investment 
and innovation have carved out our 
place as the leading supplier to the 
globally traded market for milk.

Our volume and value strategy 
works for Fonterra and it works for 
the economy. Commodities might 
not be fashionable, but they are the 
foundations of our economy with 
dairying, bringing $13.3 billion back to 
the economy for the season through 
Fonterra’s Farmgate Milk Price and 
another $160 million through the 
dividend on our Fonterra shares and 
units, made possible from profits by 
our higher margin operations.

We should not forget that our economic 
contribution goes beyond our payout. 
We are a substantial employer with 
more than 11,000 people in New 
Zealand taking a pay packet home to 
their families, and we employ more 
than 6,000 people offshore. We are also 
a significant purchaser of goods and 
services including packaging, energy, 
transport, telecommunications and 
other business needs, sourcing most of 
these in New Zealand.

Given our economic contribution, 
it is important our strategy is more 
clearly understood. Our ingredients 
operations drive cash for Fonterra and 
the economy as a whole. Investing 
in ingredients capacity enables us to 
accommodate both growth and ensure 
that more of our shareholders’ milk is 
processed into the highest returning 
ingredients products. But this is only 
half the story. 

Our investment strategy also sees us 
creating capacity in foodservice and 
consumer, both areas that command 
premiums. Ultimately the aim is to 
move more milk into those products. 
This is all part of turning the wheel 
towards higher returns from milk. 

As we invest in our future, it is crucial 
that we continue to invest as a country 
in the research and development to 
support a highly productive agricultural 
sector. It is equally crucial we work 
together to ensure we have food 
safety and quality systems which 
safeguard New Zealand’s reputation 
as a trustworthy source of food for 
the discerning consumer.

The new season will be demanding. 
Strong global supply, geopolitical 
turmoil and a lower forecast Farmgate 
Milk Price are all factors to be dealt 
with, but as we have shown this 
financial year, the best approach in 
volatile markets is to stay focused 
on strategy. Its overarching aim is to 
sustainably maximise our Farmgate 
Milk Price, our profitability and 
ultimately the highest payout 
to our farmers.

I want to thank our farmer shareholders 
for their support this year, especially 
during the first quarter. On their 
behalf I also want to acknowledge 
our management team, who are 
strengthening our Co-operative, setting 
a new benchmark for food safety and 
quality and aiming for an ambitious but 
achievable goal of global relevance.

JOHN WILSON
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

9

 
FROM 
A STRONG
FOUNDATION

This is what ambition looks like. 
It is a powerful story of growth for 
Fonterra and shows our volume 
and value strategy at work. 
It shows more milk steadily 
flowing into higher-returning 
products. It shows the global 
milk pools strategy at work as 
we move from a single source 
in New Zealand to draw on 
30 billion litres across five 
geographies by 2025. It shows 
us growing returns and share 
value for our farmers. It’s a 
story of building on a strong 
foundation to become a globally 
relevant Co-operative.

Formation

REVENUE1 

INGREDIENTS2

CASH 
PAYOUT

MILK POOLS
(LITRES) 

SHARE VALUE
(NZD) 

$7.9B 
$5.33
13B
$4B

1  Revenue represents external revenue.

2  For the 31 May 2003 financial year.

CONSUMER AND 
FOODSERVICE2

$4.6B 

37% discount to  
UK mIlk price

NEW ZEALAND
MILK VOLUME ONLY 

Based on $3.85 Fair 
Value Share2. This was 
within the range of 
$3.65–$4.25 determined 
by Standard & Poor’s 
Ratings Services (‘S&P’)

10 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

TO 
A GLOBALLY RELEVANT 
CO-OPERATIVE

Today

INGREDIENTS

$16B 
$8.50
21B
$10B

CONSUMER AND 
FOODSERVICE3

$6.3B 

No discount to  
UK milk price

NEW ZEALAND
AUSTRALIA
CHINA
CHILE 

Market value as at 
September 2014

3  Oceania, Asia and Latin America business units, excluding inter-segment revenue.

Ambition by 2025

INGREDIENTS, CONSUMER AND FOODSERVICE

$35B 

DELIVER HIGH SUSTAINABLE FARMGATE 
MILK PRICE AND DIVIDEND PER SHARE

30B

NEW ZEALAND 
AUSTRALIA
EUROPE
CHINA
CHILE
USA

GROWING 
VALUE BY 
TURNING THE 
WHEEL 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

11

 
It has been a tough 
year, but we are 
off to a flying start 
with a game changer 
that really defines the 
‘value’ part of our  
V3 Strategy.

REVENUE

$22B

GLOBAL INGREDIENTS AND 
OPERATIONS REVENUE

30%

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

LETTER
FROM 
THE CHIEF
EXECUTIVE

Establishing our Global Ingredients 
and Global Operations business units, 
operational from 1 August 2014, brings a 
more integrated approach to ingredients 
manufacturing around the world. This 
global grouping recognises that while 
our operations are predominantly 
New Zealand-based, we cannot be 
New Zealand-centric, especially as we 
grow our global milk pools. 

The toughest challenge of all was our 
precautionary recall of Whey Protein 
Concentrate (WPC80) right at the start 
of the financial year. Our response was 
to renew our focus on food safety and 
quality and seize the chance to create 
and resource a four-year plan to achieve 
a global benchmark in food safety and 
quality. This benchmark will not be 
defined by us, but by our customers 
and consumers. 

A benchmark based on respect for 
what we do will always be stronger 
than one we define ourselves. We know 
the expectations of our customers 
and consumers are high and we are 
determined to meet them. 

It has been a tough year, but it has 
redefined us and we have a new year 
ahead. We are off to a flying start with 
a game changer that really defines the 
‘value’ part of our V3 Strategy. 

It has been a testing and defining year for 
our Co-operative. Pressure can push you 
down or propel you forward. We choose 
the latter, setting us up for the future.

High milk powder prices are good 
for farmers, but in our consumer and 
foodservice businesses they put margins 
under pressure so we focused on building 
volume and value in our key markets, 
especially Asia and Latin America.

Very strong milk flows and an extended 
peak season stretched our powders 
capacity and forced us to make 
lower-returning products. We fast-
tracked investments to expand our 
New Zealand capacity and undertook 
immediate projects to maximise output 
from existing plant. As these have come 
on stream we have announced further 
investments to keep us ahead of the 
milk curve and provide more options 
for the most profitable end use of our 
farmer shareholders’ milk.

We are firmly on track with 
a global view of our milk 
processing and manufacturing 
capacity, forming strategic 
partnerships that capitalise 
on the competitive advantages 
of different geographies.

This gives us more flexibility with what 
we make and where we make it and 
lifts our operational efficiency. We can 
meet customer demand and keep our 
Farmgate Milk Price competitive by 
having New Zealand sites focus as much 
as possible on products with higher 
stream returns. 

12 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

 
FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

13

 
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

We have kept 
turning the volume 
and value wheel, 
even in more 
challenging market 
conditions.

Post balance date we announced that 
we are establishing a global partnership 
with Beingmate, a leading infant food 
manufacturer in China and a long-
standing customer. Our partnership 
represents a major step forward in terms 
of our strategy and will increase the 
volume and value of our ingredients and 
branded products exported to China.

Together we will create a fully integrated 
global supply chain from the farmgate to 
China’s consumers, using Fonterra’s milk 
pools and manufacturing sites in New 
Zealand, Australia and Europe.

This global, integrated supply chain will 
see more of our high-quality Anmum™ 
infant formula exported from here in 
New Zealand. It will see more high-
value infant formula products made in 
Australia for China at our Darnum plant 
– a second milk pool. And it includes 
a third milk pool in Europe, where 
ingredients will be manufactured at our 
new plant in the Netherlands in a joint 
venture with A-Ware, and through an 
alliance with Dairy Crest in the United 
Kingdom. We will ultimately work 
with Beingmate to evaluate mutual 
investments in dairy farms in China.

That’s the volume side of the 
partnership. Value will come from 
gaining a direct line into the infant 
formula market in China, which is the 
biggest growth story in paediatric 
nutrition in the world. It is worth around 
$18 billion today and is expected to 
nearly double to $33 billion1 by 2017. 

Our partnership will take our relationship 
with China and its consumers to a 
whole new level. It will benefit Fonterra, 
Beingmate and all our stakeholders and 
is part of our drive to increase returns 
to our farmer shareholders.

RESULTS
We have a final Cash Payout of $8.50 
comprising the Farmgate Milk Price 
of $8.40 per kgMS and a dividend of 
10 cents per share.

For our farmer shareholders, the 
Farmgate Milk Price is their best to 
date. It directly reflects the very strong 
dairy commodity prices for most of 
the year. The total Farmgate Milk Price 
distribution of $13.3 billion will be paid 
out on eight per cent more milk, with 
collections for the season totalling 1,584 
million kgMS. The dividend will see a 
further $160 million in the hands of our 
farmer shareholders and unitholders.

These record milk volumes enabled 
us to meet high demand and to ship 
record volumes in the second and fourth 
quarters of the financial year. They also 
enabled a rebuild of inventory, run 
low by the previous season’s drought. 
With carryover stocks low, total sales 
volume growth in ingredients was up 
by only one per cent over the prior year 
to 2.8 million MT.

Record milk volumes also meant not all 
of the volume could be turned into the 
most profitable products. We had no 
choice but to manufacture cheese and 
casein over the extended peak when 
powder capacity was full. Over that 
period 24 per cent of our production 

was in Non-Reference Commodity 
Products. In some cases, stream returns 
for these products were lower and 
more than the cost of the milk used 
to make them. Global Ingredients and 
Operations’ revenue increased by 30 per 
cent to $18 billion and normalised EBIT 
was down 46 per cent to $269 million.

Our Co-operative achieved record 
revenue of $22.3 billion for the year. 
This is a direct result of our focus on 
achieving the highest possible revenue 
line that is good for the Farmgate 
Milk Price. A 27 per cent rise in the 
cost of goods sold to $19.8 billion 
constrained margins in our consumer 
and foodservice businesses and on 
Non-Reference Commodity Products. 
This together with higher interest and 
taxation resulted in net profit after tax 
being 76 per cent lower, at $179 million.

Overall, our consumer and foodservice 
businesses continued to achieve volume 
growth despite head winds, but with 
value growth eroded by tight margins, 
EBIT fell in all regions. Earnings per 
share, at 10 cents, were 34 cents down 
on the prior year.

We have kept turning the volume and 
value wheel, even in more challenging 
market conditions. Foodservice growth 
across Asia and China was good, growth 
in Indonesia has been delivered after 
our moves to unblock the supply chain, 
and volume and value has grown in 
Latin America. Our Oceania businesses 
both struggled with high input costs, 
but Australia and New Zealand are on a 
firmer footing to lift their performance 
in the new financial year.

1  Baby Food In China Euromonitor International report, November 2013.

14 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

15

 
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

How do we define 
global relevance? 
It means making a 
difference in the lives 
of two billion people 
by 2025.

STRATEGY UPDATE: BECOMING 
GLOBALLY RELEVANT
Looking back over the past three years, 
we have packed a lot in. We have a 
secure base in our capital structure, we 
have locked down our growth choices 
and we have made excellent progress 
with our V3 Strategy, growing volume 
and value. 

We are confident about what we 
stand for. We live by our values. 
Our determination to establish 
a new global benchmark in food 
safety and quality, as defined by 
our customers and consumers, 
gives us a real sense of purpose 
every day. 

There is no doubt that we have hit 
the milestones for scale. We are the 
world’s biggest dairy processor and the 
world’s largest dairy exporter. But scale 
is not the limit of our ambition. Our next 
step is to become a globally relevant 
Co-operative.

How do we define global relevance? 
It means making a difference in the 
lives of two billion people by 2025 
– ‘difference’ as defined by them. 
Getting there means listening to them, 
understanding what they want, and 
delivering the innovative high-quality, 
safe dairy nutrition they expect from us.

Relevance means accessing 30 billion 
litres of milk from five or six high-
quality and secure milk pools in key 
geographies in the world by 2025. We 
have to complement our New Zealand 
milk to keep growing. Our farmer 
shareholders in New Zealand have 
achieved average annual compound 
growth of three per cent in milk solids 
since 2002. That’s impressive, and 
their milk completely anchors our 
Co-operative’s performance. But our 
New Zealand volumes are not enough 
to take advantage of the predicted 
global demand growth.

Relevance means aiming for $35 billion 
in turnover by 2025. It’s a stretch, but we 
have achieved four per cent compound 
annual growth in revenue since 2002 
and we hit $22.3 billion this year. It is 
important to keep aiming high, to keep 
turning the wheel.

Relevance means leadership in dairy 
ingredients, our cash engine. We do not 
take our current leadership position 
in export markets for granted. Market 
dynamics are changing. Ultimately, 
leadership in ingredients is all about 
growing returns for our farmer 
shareholders by being the most efficient 
milk processor in the world with the 
optionality to make the most valuable 
products at our peak.

Relevance is being number one or 
number two in our eight core strategic 
markets. We already lead in New Zealand, 
Australia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Chile, 
and in China, Brazil and Indonesia we 
are focused on building scale operations. 
We will grow our consumer positions, 
continue to maximise our foodservice 
potential and really back a lean and 
focused portfolio of five brands – the 
Anlene™, Anmum™, Anchor™ and 
NZMP™ brands as well as our Fonterra 
brand, supported by some strong regional 
brands such as Soprole, Mainland™, 
Fernleaf™ and Western Star™. 

Relevance is our customers, consumers, 
peers and stakeholders ranking us in the 
top tier for reputation.

16 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

GLOBAL 
MILK POOLS
Our global milk pools will 
allow us to reach 30 billion 
litres of milk from five or six 
high-quality and secure milk 
pools by 2025.

50

40

30

20

10

0

48%

41%

17%

15%

8%

TOTAL
MARKET
SHARE

WHOLE
MILK
POWDER

SKIM
MILK
POWDER

BUTTER

REST OF
PRODUCTS

FONTERRA’S SHARE OF GLOBAL DAIRY EXPORTS

Figures are for the 2013/14 season. Global Dairy Exports means 
the market for the cross-border trade of dairy products but 
excludes trade among countries within the European Union.

CHILE
CURRENT:

0.5 B LITRES

EUROPE
TARGETING:

1.0 B LITRES

AUSTRALIA
CURRENT:

1.5 B LITRES

CHINA
TARGETING:

1.0 B LITRES

NEW ZEALAND
CURRENT:

18 B LITRES

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

17

 
 
 
   
 
 
 
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Strategy Update: 
More progress, more to come. 
We have made good progress 
on our V3 Strategy this year. 
It is important for our momentum 
that we hit our goals, so we can  
keep looking forward to the 
next level.

OPTIMISING NEW ZEALAND 
MILK
Millions of litres of milk produced by 
our New Zealand farmers arrive at our 
sites every year. Our goal is to allocate 
it to the highest-returning ingredients, 
foodservice or consumer products.

This year, capacity constraints over 
the extended peak meant record milk 
volumes could not all go into the 
products earning the higher returns.

Since 2011, we have invested $658 
million to increase our processing 
capacity and now have a further 
$946 million being invested in either 
fast-tracked expansion projects or 
new projects to build capacity in 
powders as well as premium products. 
Of this investment, $262 million is in 
capacity to support foodservice and 
consumer brands through growing our 
mozzarella, cream cheese, slice-on-slice 
cheese and UHT production. 

18 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

In Latin America we revised our 10-year-
old Dairy Partners Americas (DPA) joint 
venture with Nestlé to better reflect 
both companies’ strategies. Fonterra 
now has a 51 per cent controlling stake 
in DPA Brazil, with Nestlé holding the 
balance. Together with a local partner, 
Fonterra has taken over Nestlé’s share  
of DPA Venezuela. 

We are looking forward to continuing 
our strong relationship with Nestlé, 
while taking advantage of the new 
arrangement to further drive our 
volume and value growth focusing on 
everyday nutrition. The changes we 
have made will make our businesses 
in Brazil and Venezuela even stronger. 
The other changes to the DPA alliance, 
including Nestlé taking control of DPA 
Ecuador and the DPA milk powder 
manufacturing businesses, are still 
subject to regulatory approval and 
due to be completed by the end of the 
calendar year.

Our global partnership with Beingmate 
puts our Anmum™ brand and our 
high-quality dairy ingredients in a 
strong position to capitalise on the 
growth opportunity in China’s rapidly 
growing infant formula market with a 
respected local partner. It is a major 
step forward in our strategy to become 
a globally relevant Co-operative and 
will significantly expand the availability 
of high-quality dairy products to 
Chinese consumers.

Having this balance of investment 
between powders capacity and more 
specialised products, such as those 
intended for foodservice, ultimately 
improves the stability of our return on 
investment as well as our returns  
to farmer shareholders.

All of these investments are a clear 
signal to our farmer shareholders that 
their milk is our top priority and we 
will always aim to process it into the 
most profitable products in any season. 
Investments at Lichfield, Edendale and 
Pahiatua alone add an additional 8.2 
million litres of processing capacity per 
day, coming on stream in 2015 and 2016. 

TURNING THE WHEEL
Our strategic priorities in consumer 
and foodservice are designed to drive 
growth in value-add earnings.

To hit our goal to have 40 per cent 
of volumes generated by consumer 
and foodservice, we’re sharpening our 
focus. Our strategy has always been 
about picking where we can win. In 
consumer and foodservice, this means 
concentrating our focus on eight 
strategic markets and going for a top 
one or two position in all of them.

This means shifting from a portfolio 
of more than 60 brands to putting 
our innovation, marketing and sales 
resources behind a tightly focused 
portfolio of our proven performers 
in the Anchor™, Anlene™, Anmum™, 
NZMP™ and Fonterra brands. It means 
playing to our strengths in dairy 
nutrition so we continue to match 
consumer trends with the products 
consumers want in order to support 
mobility, growth and development, 
cognition and sustained energy.

Our partnership is intended to come 
together in two phases:
•  A partial tender offer to gain a stake of 
up to 20 per cent in Beingmate subject 
to regulatory approval. Depending 
on the response to the tender 
offer, Fonterra’s total investment 
in the global partnership will be 
approximately $615 million (including 
proceeds from the joint venture in 
Australia), funded through debt.

• 

 After the tender has been concluded 
and gained regulatory approvals, 
we will set up a joint venture with 
Beingmate to purchase Fonterra’s 
Darnum plant in Australia and we will 
establish a distribution and licensing 
agreement to sell our Anmum™ 
brand in China.

Under the joint venture, Darnum will 
manufacture nutritional powders, 
including infant formula and growing-
up milk powder for Beingmate as well 
as Fonterra and other customers. The 
Darnum joint venture will prioritise 
supply to the Chinese market and also 
provide supply to the rest of the world. 

Fonterra will continue to run Darnum’s 
day-to-day operations under a formal 
management agreement. We will 
also manage the supply of raw milk 
to Darnum, and milk collection 
agreements between Fonterra and 
dairy farmers in Australia will remain 
as they are today.

Beingmate, which has 80,000 retail 
outlets, 30 branches across China and 
20,000 maternal service consultants, 
will distribute Anmum™ products 
on our behalf. As a New Zealand-
made branded product, Anmum™ 
infant formula represents a premium 
extension to Beingmate’s respected 
paediatric range. 

This development represents 
further measurable progress 
towards our Co-operative’s global 
relevance. It is a game-changer 
for volume, for value and for our 
connection with customers and 
consumers in the Chinese market. 

The global partnership will enable both 
partners to drive their global growth 
ambitions and deliver on our shared 
aim to develop a safe, secure, integrated 
global dairy supply chain to meet the 
needs of consumers in China.

Our farmers’ milk 
will be targeted 
to the highest-
returning products 
in New Zealand, 
where we have 
significant powder 
expertise and global 
market share.

EXPANDING OUR MILK POOLS
It is clear that even with the consistent 
milk growth achieved by our farmer 
shareholders, we cannot meet global 
demand from New Zealand production 
alone. We are complementing  
New Zealand supply with milk pools 
offshore, protecting our scale so we 
can be truly globally relevant.

Our farmers’ milk will be targeted  
to the highest-returning products in  
New Zealand, where we have significant 
powder expertise and global market 
share. At the same time we are tactically 
expanding sources of supply to capture 
the best share of market demand.

We have made positive steps forward 
this year. We formed an exclusive 
partnership with UK-based Dairy Crest 
to market and sell two products for 
the fast-growing global infant formula 
market. Galacto-oligosaccharide and 
demineralised whey powder, both used 
in the manufacture of infant formula, 
will be manufactured by Dairy Crest. 
Fonterra will be the dedicated and 
exclusive sales channel for the infant 
formula ingredients produced.

This agreement directly aligns with our 
strategy to develop leading positions 
in infant formula and growing-up milk 
powders and to extend and grow our 
infant formula business-to-business 
ingredient business in China, Europe 
and other international markets 
identified in our strategy.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

19

 
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Having an integrated 
business in China 
strengthens our place 
in the local market by 
demonstrating our 
commitment to the 
local industry and  
its success.

Infant formula is currently the fastest-
growing dairy category in the world and 
demand is expected to remain strong, 
especially in Asia. This development is a 
win-win for us and for Dairy Crest.

Our alliance with Dairy Crest in the 
United Kingdom also has a direct 
connection to our partnership with 
Beingmate. Infant formula ingredients, 
along with the whey specialty 
ingredients that will be manufactured 
at our new plant in Heerenveen in the 
Netherlands, will contribute volume 
and value from our European milk pool, 
complementing the Australian and New 
Zealand milk pools that are so pivotal to 
this development. 

Our farming hubs in China are also 
important to our milk pool strategy. 
Our Yutian hub of four farms in the 
Hebei province is fully operational, 
contributing to the increased volumes 
and higher prices being achieved for 
our locally produced milk. To progress 
development of our more integrated 
dairy business in China, work is 
underway at the second farm hub in 
the Shanxi province. 

A highlight this year was the agreement 
between Fonterra and Abbott to 
develop a proposed third dairy farm hub 
in China. The strategic alliance, which is 
subject to Chinese regulatory approval, 
will leverage Fonterra’s expertise in 
dairy nutrition and farming in China 

and Abbott’s continued commitment 
to business development in China. If 
approved by authorities, it will represent 
a combined investment of $342 million 
and comprise up to five farms, more 
than 16,000 cows and up to 160 million 
litres of annual milk production by 2019. 

By 2020, Fonterra aims to produce one 
billion litres of milk in China. Around 
one third will supply customers such 
as Abbott and the remainder will flow 
into our own consumer and foodservice 
products. Having an integrated business 
in China strengthens our place in the 
local market by demonstrating our 
commitment to the local industry 
and its success.

Establishing global multi-hubs to 
support our growth goals is not simply 
about securing more milk. It is about 
matching demand with the best source 
of supply, drawing on competitive 
advantages in each milk hub. Our 
Dairy Crest agreement is one example. 
Another is our A-Ware joint venture 
in the Netherlands, which taps into 
Europe’s natural advantage in cheese 
and gives us access to high-quality 
whey protein and lactose for advanced 
nutrition applications.

The addition of the A-Ware joint venture 
gives Fonterra access to close to one 
billion litres of milk in the European 
market and the plant is expected to be 
ready by the end of the calendar year.

ALIGNING OUR BUSINESS 
TO STRATEGY
We made some further changes to 
ensure our group structure supports our 
strategic platforms. Going from more of 
a New Zealand focus to achieving global 
relevance requires a significant shift 
from an organisational perspective.

We have made that shift, with Global 
Operations and Global Ingredients 
established during the financial year 
and operational from 1 August 2014. The 
change supports our business priority to 
optimise our global ingredients sales and 
operations footprint.

From 1 August 2014, Global Ingredients 
will manage sales of all ingredients 
globally, own the relationships with our 
valued ingredients customers and drive 
our global sourcing strategy and delivery. 

Global Operations, integrating our New 
Zealand and offshore operations, will 
play a pivotal role in planning production 
to optimise what we make and where 
we make it. It is closely aligned to our 
multi-hub strategy.

We have appointed Kelvin Wickham as 
Managing Director Global Ingredients 
and Robert Spurway as Managing 
Director Global Operations. Both are 
very experienced and capable leaders.

Johan Priem succeeds Kelvin Wickham 
as President Greater China from  
1 August 2014. He has held two senior 
Fonterra leadership positions in Asia. 
More recently, he has contributed 
to developing our approach to food 
safety and quality, and corporate social 
responsibility and sustainability.

20  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

11,443
NEW ZEALAND

3,173
ASIA

1,827
LATIN AMERICA

1,551
AUSTRALIA

18,195

201
REST OF THE WORLD

TOTAL STAFF EMPLOYED1

1  Permanent full-time equivalent.

We are encouraging 
performance by showing how 
it can be achieved through 
working together as one tight 
team, reflecting our belief that 
all of us together make one 
strong Fonterra.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

21

I am proud of what our people have 
achieved this year. They have been 
resilient and open to learning and very 
committed to bringing our strategic 
goals to life.

We are creating a climate for them to 
succeed through a capability strategy to 
define how we should develop our people 
so we are equipped to deliver on strategy. 
We are taking a global perspective on 
talent and culture which is open to ideas 
and opportunities from all corners. We 
are growing strong leaders, encouraging 
them to develop their individual strengths 
and to use those strengths for the good 
of the Co-operative.

BRINGING OUR PEOPLE WITH US
We are establishing a global benchmark 
for food safety and quality, one everyone 
trusts because we are looking after 
what matters most to our customers 
and our consumers.

Our Food Safety and Quality Framework 
makes it clear food safety and quality 
is everyone’s responsibility. We want 
everyone fully engaged with this 
obligation and to see the world through 
our customers’ and consumers’ eyes.

Our leaders in the business, from me 
down, know it is up to us to lead by 
example, so all of our people are clear 
about what is expected of them.  
Our values stress collaboration, honesty, 
living up to the promises we make and 
above all, doing what is right. Our aim is 
to create a climate where everyone can 
succeed, because that makes our  
Co-operative succeed too.

My leadership team has signed up 
to really bringing our values to life 
in our everyday actions. We have a 
great team with a global perspective 
and considerable individual strengths. 
Brought together, we’re even stronger. 
Working collaboratively, respecting one 
another, keeping promises and forming 
lasting partnerships are all powerful 
signals to our people that this is the 
right way to work. By bringing them 
with us, we are creating a Co-operative 
that earns respect and trust through 
our actions.

 
 
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S LETTER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Social and 
environmental 
considerations 
must be taken into 
account in the way 
we do business at 
every step in the 
value chain.

SUSTAINABILITY AND 
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Social responsibility is an an area 
where the dairy sector globally can lead. 
We want to be part of demonstrating 
that leadership. 

All businesses depend on healthy 
ecosystems and the support of society. 
Fonterra is no different. Natural 
resources underpin our ability to 
produce milk, and we rely on the 
support of our farmer shareholders 
and customers, consumers and 
communities wherever we operate. 
We have a responsibility to our farmer 
shareholders and all other stakeholders 
for the impacts of our decisions. Social 
and environmental considerations 
must be taken into account in the way 
we do business at every step in the 
value chain. 

For Fonterra, this means sharing 
what we do best to make a difference 
wherever we are in the world. We 
are committed to dairy excellence 
and global leadership in dairy safety 
and quality, responsible dairying, 
championing the health of our 
environment, making dairy nutrition 
accessible and delivering superior 
products to improve health at 
all life stages.

This year we reached a significant 
milestone we’ve been working towards 
for more than a decade. Our farmer 
shareholders in New Zealand have 
achieved stock exclusion from 95 per 
cent1 of waterways on their farms. They 
have ensured more than 23,300 km 
of significant waterways are stock 
excluded. Not only that, they have 
also excluded stock from more than 
another 9,000 km of smaller streams 
and wetlands. 

To put it in context, that’s enough 
fencing to stretch from New Zealand 
to the North Pole and back. 

Our farmer shareholders have made 
milk more accessible through the 
Fonterra Milk for Schools™ programme 
and around 170,000 children now get 
free milk every day of the school term. 
We also received support from the 
New Zealand Government to extend 
our KickStart Breakfast programme to 
five days a week. These programmes 
are making a real difference every day 
to children’s nutrition and their ability 
to learn.

Globally, we’re developing dairy 
expertise in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and 
China to share our skills and knowledge 
of dairying excellence with local 
farmers. Everyone gains when local 
farmers improve production. Working 
with them to support their growth also 
supports local communities.

STOCK EXCLUSION FROM 
WATERWAYS ACHIEVED ON 
NEW ZEALAND FARMS

951
%

These are achievements any 
company would be proud of and 
we are not stopping there. There 
is still much more we want to do.

Not all the challenges we face have clear-
cut solutions. Protecting our freshwater 
ecosystems and mitigating greenhouse 
gas emissions are essential priorities, not 
only on-farm but also across our entire 
supply chain. We are working with our 
farmer shareholders to better understand 
their environmental footprint and to 
ensure that their farms are well equipped 
to face increasing expectations from 
communities, consumers and customers. 

There is no question that the capacity  
of our natural environment is finite.  
We want to ensure that the resources 
we depend on are maintained and 
enhanced wherever we operate – 
both for our good and that of the 
community. I am absolutely confident 
that with sound science and economics 
we can find solutions that promote 
innovation and good practice, and 
enable farmers to continue farming 
profitably and sustainably.

1  This excludes approximately 450 kilometres of waterways with dispensations, most of which have management plans requiring temporary stock exclusion measures until 

permanent fencing is constructed. In some cases, the dispensations relate to areas not accessed by dairy animals.

22  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

The momentum we 
have achieved over 
the past three years 
is an indication of 
what we can do with 
focus, clear priorities 
and a will to win.

OUR JOURNEY TO BECOMING A GLOBALLY RELEVANT CO-OP

Trading 
Among 
Farmers

2010

2012

2012

2013

A PROUD 
NZ CO-OP

VALUES  
STORY

CAPITAL 
STRUCTURE

STRATEGY 
REFRESH

TURNING 
THE WHEEL

2014

THIS IS 
FONTERRA 

2015 &  
BEYOND
A GLOBALLY 
RELEVANT 
CO-OP

We will keep sharing our progress as 
we go – the successes as well as the 
setbacks – and we will keep working 
with our farmer shareholders, our 
customers, consumers and communities 
around the world to make a difference. 
Not just because it’s good business, 
but because it’s part of who we are. 

VELOCITY
Our V3 Strategy has supported our 
performance in a demanding and 
defining year. It has kept us on track, 
motivated and confident about our 
future goals and our ambition to become 
globally relevant.

The momentum we have achieved over 
the past three years is an indication 
of what we can do with focus, clear 
priorities and a will to win. We have 
started a new financial year with a 
confident step up in terms of increasing 
the volume and value of our ingredients 
and branded products exported to China 
through our partnership with Beingmate. 
This partnership includes the potential 
for farm developments in China.

The partnership with Beingmate is one 
of several we now have in place to keep  
our strategy progressing at pace.  
Our alliance with Dairy Crest in the 
UK, A-Ware in the Netherlands and 
our agreement with Abbott to develop 
a third dairy farm hub in China all 
demonstrate our ambition to create 
global milk pools that match  
demand with strategic sources of supply.  
We have realigned our DPA alliance with 
Nestlé for mutual benefit and expect to 
drive more volume and value.

At home in New Zealand, our continued 
investment in processing capacity 
and a compelling new Co-operative 
proposition to support our farmers  
to grow and prosper reaffirm that  
New Zealand will always be our  
number one milk pool. 

We have always said ambition has 
to be supported by action. Global 
relevance is our ambition. The action 
is well underway.

THEO SPIERINGS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

23

 
KEY PARTNERSHIPS AND INVESTMENTS IN 2014

KEY PARTNERSHIPS 
AND INVESTMENTS 
IN 2014

EUROPE

A-Ware joint venture

Dairy Crest partnership

24  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

LATIN AMERICA

Fonterra and Nestlé’s 
Dairy Partners of America 
reshape

Our strategic 
priorities are designed 
to drive growth in 
value-add earnings.

CHINA

Fonterra and Beingmate 
proposed global 
partnership

Fonterra and Abbott 
farming hub joint venture

NEW ZEALAND

$1.6b invested/approved 
since 2011

>  Ingredients: 

Lichfield, Edendale, 
Pahiatua, Darfield

>  Foodservice: 

Waitoa, Clandeboye,  
Te Rapa, Eltham

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

25

AUSTRALIA

Nine per cent investment 
in Bega Cheese

Acquisition of Tamar 
Valley Dairy

Fonterra selected as 
preferred supplier to 
process Woolworths’ 
own brand milk in Victoria 
for next 10 years

 
FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY

FOOD
SAFETY  
AND
QUALITY

BUILDING  
TRUST IN 
SOURCE
OUR FOOD SAFETY  
AND QUALITY  
ROADMAP 

DEVELOPING A 
CONSUMER-FOCUSED 
CENTRE FOR  
DAIRY 
EXCELLENCE

26  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

BECOMING THE BENCHMARK, 
GAINING TRUST 
What would it take to become the 
global benchmark for food safety and 
quality? We have asked ourselves, 
our customers and stakeholders that 
question this year and come up with 
more than the answer. What we have 
is a four-year programme of work to 
achieve this goal.

Setting a new benchmark is an 
ambitious goal. To achieve it, we have 
to bring our people, our customers 
and consumers with us. Where today 
we can say there is awareness of our 
commitment to making safe, high-
quality food, we want to move to a point 
where trust is implicit and squarely 
earned, because we have set the new 
benchmark. It will not be us who 
determines when the benchmark is set. 
It will be the customers and consumers 
who use our products. 

Our programme starts with a very 
strong base. Our Fonterra Quality 
System is already set at world standards 
and applies globally. These standards 

are based on FSSC22000, which 
aligns to the International Standards 
Organisation’s (ISO) global standards 
for food safety management and is fully 
recognised by the Global Food Safety 
Initiative (GFSI), the world-leading 
standard of food safety and quality. Our 
standards apply to joint ventures and 
all supply chain partners, as well as to 
our operations. Full compliance with our 
quality system is not optional and there 
is a clear expectation that financial 
targets relating to the cost of quality 
failures will be met.

From year one in our four-year 
programme, we keep raising the 
bar. Short-term incentives in our 
remuneration schemes will reflect 
Right First Time performance. 
Our manufacturing sites, then our 
warehouses, then our farms will 
achieve 100 per cent compliance with 
the Global Food Safety Initiative’s 
certification schemes. Regulatory 
compliance will be 100 per cent. As 
we reach milestones customers and 
ultimately consumers will be able to 
check against our audited performance.

2014
FOCUS

MAKING A CLEAR  
COMMITMENT TO  
BE ACCOUNTABLE 

2015
DRIVE

MAKING PURPOSEFUL  
PROGRESS AND  
EARNING TRUST

✓   Audited global operations. 75 per cent 
complete and 95 per cent compliance 
with quality standards 

•  Right First Time Quality metric 

launched and captured in short-term 
incentive for staff

•  Participation in global food standards 
organisations and CODEX setting

•  Launch Food Safety and Quality rewards 

and recognition programme 

•  Fonterra Quality System reflected in 

employee contracts

•  Deploy traceability architecture

•  Full compliance with GFSI certification 

(manufacturing) 

✓   Protocol in place for engagement 

of external scientific and diagnostic 
resources, including appropriate 
engagement of experts

✓   Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) 

written into all senior management 
employment contracts

✓   Established fully functioning Incident 

Management Team

✓   Creation of Food Safety and 

Quality Council

✓   Appointment of Head of Food Safety 

and Quality

✓  

Implementation of a quality hotline

✓   Built traceability architecture capability

Similar milestones are set out for 
traceability where we intend to move 
from today’s 48 hour timeframe to just 
a few hours by 2016. Ultimately we will 
have full, open traceability accessible by 
consumers anywhere. 

We supply a world where food security  
is becoming increasingly important.  
As demand for quality protein grows, 
so too do the opportunities for 
counterfeits, food fraud and other 
crimes against consumers.

Full traceability and proof of origin, 
sound science and open access 
through digital and social media to 
accurate information are consumers’ 
best protections. That is where we 
are heading. We are benchmarking 
our underlying systems against the 
GFSI global benchmark in product 
identification systems, ensuring we 
provide world-class protections.

A significant cultural change programme 
is also underway to make thinking, 
acting on and living quality embedded 
in the way we work. We are making 
the significant mental shift from being 

capable makers of product to become 
people who are looking after what 
matters most to our customers and 
consumers. ‘Do What’s Right’ is a core 
value for us.

To connect ourselves and our people 
with our customers we’re developing 
social media command centres to 
enable consumers and customers 
around the clock and around the 
world to tell us what matters most to 
them. This is part of our Dairy Centre 
of Excellence, focused on food safety 
science, nutrition, dairy innovation and 
technology, understanding consumers 
and connecting with them. We will 
share our knowledge of dairy and they 
will tell us how we should be using 
that know-how to meet their needs.  
Open access will keep us constantly 
abreast of what they expect from us 
and how their needs are changing.

Genuine and lasting change takes 
time. Year one (2014) has us making 
a clear commitment to be completely 
accountable for thinking, acting on 
and living quality. Year two (2015) 
sees us making purposeful progress 

2016
ACHIEVE

BUILDING ABSOLUTE  
CREDIBILITY AND DELIVERING  
LEADING PERFORMANCE

2017 AND BEYOND
LEAD

TAKING THE INITIATIVE  
WITH GLOBAL  
LEADERSHIP

•  Full accountability from every 

member of the Co-operative to 
uphold highest standards of FSQ

•  Full compliance and customer 
visibility of Right First Time 
Quality metric 

•  Benchmark data provided internally 

•  Full compliance with GFSI 
certification (warehouses) 

•  Lead global continuous 

improvement of food standards

•  Benchmark data  

provided externally 

•  Full compliance with GFSI 

certification (farms) 

towards clearly defined goals. In year 
three (2016) we’ll be building absolute 
credibility and delivering leading 
performance. Achieve all of this and by 
year four (2017) we will have the global 
benchmark the world looks to for food 
safety and quality.

By shaping the way food quality 
systems and practices develop 
today, we are opening up the way 
the world will see food tomorrow. 
As we head down this road, the 
everyday actions of our people  
will be the defining factor.  
We have focused, committed 
people and they are taking it 
personally and accountably, 
seeing our world through 
customers’ and consumers’ eyes.

OPENING UP THE  
WAY THE WORLD SEES  
FOOD TOMORROW,  
BY SHAPING THE WAY  
FOOD QUALITY,  
SYSTEMS AND  
PRACTICES DEVELOP  
TODAY.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

27

 
GROUP OVERVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

GROUP 
OVERVIEW

NORMALISED EBIT (NZD)

REVENUE (NZD BILLION)

$269M  
GLOBAL INGREDIENTS & OPERATIONS 

$31M  
OCEANIA 

$91M  
ASIA 

$111M  
LATIN AMERICA

$1M  
INTER-SEGMENT 

503M

22.3

19.9

19.8

18.6

25

20

15

10

5

0

FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

VOLUME (‘000 MT)

REVENUE (NZD)

3,965MT 

$22.3B 

NET PROFIT AFTER TAX (NZD)

$179M 

FINAL CASH PAYOUT (NZD)

EARNINGS PER SHARE (NZD)

DIVIDEND PER SHARE (NZD)

$8.50

10CPS

10CPS

Fonterra refers to normalised segment earnings, normalised EBIT, EBIT, EBITDA, constant currency variances, normalisation adjustments and Payout when discussing financial 
performance. These are non-GAAP financial measures and are not prepared in accordance with IFRS. Management believes that these measures provide useful information 
as they provide valuable insight on the underlying performance of the business. They are used internally to evaluate the underlying performance of business units and to 
analyse trends. These measures are not uniformly defined or utilised by all companies. Accordingly, these measures may not be comparable with similarly titled measures 
used by other companies. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be viewed in isolation nor considered as a substitute for measures reported in accordance with IFRS. 
Please refer to page 86 for the reconciliation of the NZ IFRS measures to the non-GAAP measures and to page 87 for definitions of the non-GAAP measures used by Fonterra.

28  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

 
A sharper focus 
on costs resulted in 
operating expenses 
being $46 million 
lower for the year. 
This was driven by a 
lower cost base in 
Australia as the reshape 
programme is being 
progressively implemented.

VOLUME
Group volumes were in line with last 
year, with volume growth in China 
offsetting lower volumes in Australia 
and Sri Lanka. Volume growth in China 
was driven primarily by the farms, 
supported by foodservice, while volumes 
in Sri Lanka were impacted by the 
temporary suspension of our operations.

VALUE
Revenue increased 19 per cent over the 
comparative period, driven by higher 
prices for dairy products globally. Revenue 
was up in every market except Australia 
and Sri Lanka where the volume impact 
was greater than price increases achieved. 
The largest increase was in Global 
Ingredients and Operations (formerly 
known as NZ Milk Products), reflecting 
the increase in market prices.

Gross margin was 19 per cent lower, 
due to an inventory value adjustment in 
our Global Ingredients and Operations 
business as a result of softening 
commodity prices and the impact of high 
commodity prices on the margins of our 
consumer and foodservice businesses. 

In Global Ingredients and Operations, 
margins were negatively impacted by 
the relative increase in the price of 
Reference Commodity Products (RCPs), 
which inform the Farmgate Milk Price 
compared to the increase in the price 
of Non-Reference Commodity Products 
(Non-RCPs). In addition, milk collection 
grew eight per cent which had an 
unfavourable impact across the peak 
due to capacity constraints. 

The impact of these together resulted in 
earnings being $653 million lower than 
last year and both these asset constraint 
issues have been largely offset by the 
milk price adjustment of $642 million. 

KEY FINANCIALS

NZD MILLION

Volume (’000 MT)

Revenue

Gross margin

Gross margin percentage

Operating expenses

EBIT

Normalised EBIT

Normalised EBIT percentage

Net profit after tax

Earnings per share (cents per share)

Milk collected 2013/14 season (million kgMS)

Operating cash flows

Investing cash flows

Economic debt to debt plus equity ratio

Return on capital employed

A sharper focus on costs resulted in 
operating expenses being $46 million 
lower for the year. This was driven 
by a lower cost base in Australia as 
the reshape programme is being 
progressively implemented.

Net finance costs were $97 million higher 
than last year mainly due to increased 
borrowings and unfavourable fair value 
movements on interest rate swaps.

The higher finance costs and lower tax 
credit contributed to net profit after tax 
being 76 per cent lower at $179 million, 
with earnings per share of 10 cents.

Operating cash flow improved by $370 
million as advance rate payments for 
milk to our farmers returned to more 
normal terms. In the previous period 
advance rates were accelerated to 
farmers during the nationwide drought. 

YEAR ENDED 
31 JULY 2014

YEAR ENDED 
31 JULY 2013

CHANGE

3,965

22,275

2,462

11.1%

(2,210)

503

503

2.3%

179

10

1,584

1,367

(1,009)

42.3%

4.5%

3,958

18,643

3,032

16.3%

(2,256)

937

1,002

5.4%

736

44

1,463

997

(868)

39.6%

8.8%

19%

(19%)

(2%)

(46%)

(50%)

(76%)

(77%)

8%

37%

16%

While this had no significant impact on 
earnings, it did have a material impact 
on cash flow.

Our gearing ratio is 42.3 per cent, up 
from 39.6 per cent last year. The change 
is a result of lower earnings, higher 
capital expenditure and increased 
business funding requirements 
compared to last year.

During the year we increased our 
holding in Bega to nine per cent 
resulting in a cash outflow of $78 
million, investment in Fonterra’s China 
farms increased with the expansion of 
the farms, including net livestock spend 
of $75 million. However, capital spend 
across the rest of the business was 
lower than last year’s which included 
Darfield Two and the acquisition of the 
Studholme plant.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

29

 
BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

GLOBAL 
INGREDIENTS AND 
OPERATIONS

Global Ingredients and Operations (formerly NZ Milk Products) 
comprises the core New Zealand milk supply chain from collection, 
manufacturing and logistics through to the end sale of dairy products 
to business customers and the Fonterra regional businesses. 
It also includes international milk sourcing, dairy nutrition-related 
joint ventures and the Co-operative’s corporate activities.

MILK COLLECTION ACROSS 
NEW ZEALAND

1.6B KGMS

GLOBAL INGREDIENTS AND 
OPERATIONS REVENUE

30%

30  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

VOLUME
Milk collection across New Zealand 
for the 2013/14 season to 31 May 2014 
reached 1,584 million kgMS, eight per 
cent higher than last season.

Farmers experienced varied conditions 
across the country last season. 
However, a mild winter and spring 
ensured that the season started well. 
The North Island faced dry conditions 
through summer, but returned to more 
favourable conditions in autumn. 

North Island collection for the full 
2013/14 season reached 969m kgMS, 
nine per cent ahead of the 2012/13 
season, while South Island collection 
reached 615m kgMS, seven per cent 
ahead of the previous season.

The record milk volumes for the season 
did not fully translate into significantly 
higher sales volume, as Global 
Ingredients and Operations began the 
year with low inventory levels as a 
result of the previous season’s drought. 
As a result total sales volume was up 
only one per cent.

Strong demand from China made the 
largest impact on volumes during the 
year. Maximising prices achieved via 
this market resulted in lower volumes 
to most other markets. It also drove 
a substantial change in product mix 
compared to the prior year, with Whole 
Milk Powder (WMP), which makes up 
the majority of our exports to China, 
up 18 per cent. 

Butter volumes were also up, driven by 
the Middle East and Africa region.  
Sales volumes of cheese and casein 
were down across all key product 
categories as we maximised production 
of higher returning milk powder 
products in the current season. 

VALUE
Revenue in our Global Ingredients 
and Operations business was up 30 
per cent as a result of strong dairy 
commodity prices. Revenue per MT of 
Reference Commodity Products (RCPs) 
which inform the Farmgate Milk Price 
was up 40 per cent, while revenue 
per MT of Non-Reference Commodity 
Products (Non-RCPs) was up 20 per cent 
compared to last year. The softening 
of RCP prices and the relative increase 
in Non-RCP prices towards the end of 
the financial year has not been fully 
reflected in revenue due to the lag 
between contract and shipment of 
product. 

Normalised EBIT was 46 per cent lower 
than last year, at $269 million. The 
largest impact on earnings of our Global 
Ingredients and Operations business 
was asset capacity, which resulted in 
significantly lower earnings than last 
year. However, this was largely offset by 
the milk price adjustment.

Asset Capacity Impacts
Stream Returns
The relative increase in the price of RCPs 
compared to the increase in the price 
of Non-RCPs was significant for most 
of the year and this had a substantial 
impact on stream returns. The extent of 
these differences was unprecedented 
and our asset footprint limited our ability 
to fully respond by switching production 
to higher-returning milk powders. 

 
This was exacerbated by the fact that the 
relative stream returns strongly favoured 
RCPs during our peak milk collection 
period in October and November, 
when we have limited product mix 
flexibility. As a result our ability to switch 
production from Non-RCPs to RCPs was 
substantially constrained. 

This resulted in significant margin 
pressure for Non-RCPs, with milk input 
costs rising disproportionately against 
the sales price and selling prices below 
the input cost in some product streams. 
In the second half of the year, the 
divergence in prices between RCPs and 
Non-RCPs decreased and then reversed. 
However, the timing of the decrease in 
commodity prices and the weighting 
of milk purchasing to the first half of 
the year, was insufficient to offset the 
impact on earnings. 

Peak Production Costs
Strong milk production and capacity 
constraints over the peak milk collection 
period resulted in inefficiencies and 
higher wastage. This included additional 
cost to transport milk to other plants 
and inefficient processing, reducing the 
returns on those products. The additional 
cost was $75 million higher than last year.

Together, the earnings from asset 
capacity impacts were $653 million 
lower than last year.

Milk Price Adjustment
The Milk Price adjustment of 53 cents 
per kgMS partially offset the impact of 
the significantly lower asset capacity 
impacts, increasing normalised EBIT 
by $642 million due to lower cost of 
goods sold.

KEY FINANCIALS

NZD MILLION

Total volume1 (’000 MT)

Revenue 

Gross margin 

Gross margin percentage

Operating expenses

Normalised EBIT

Normalised EBIT percentage

Return on capital employed

YEAR ENDED 
31 JULY 2014

YEAR ENDED
31 JULY 2013

CHANGE

2,848

18,041

1,030

5.7%

(960)

269

1.5%

4.2%

2,824

13,917

1,251

9.0%

(892)

494

3.5%

7.4%

1%

30%

(18%)

8%

(46%)

1  Total volume includes intercompany volumes.

NORMALISED EBIT: KEY PERFORMANCE DRIVERS
NZD MILLION
600

494

(653)

642

29

(156)

(74)

(13)

269

500

400

300

200

100

0

(100)

(200)

FY13
NORMALISED
EBIT

ASSET
CAPACITY
IMPACTS

MILK PRICE
ADJUSTMENT

PRICE
PREMIUMS

INVENTORY
VALUE
PROVISION

GLOBAL 
SOURCING

OTHER

FY14
NORMALISED
EBIT

NEW ZEALAND SOURCED REVENUE AND VOLUME

SALES VOLUME (’000 MT)1

Reference Commodity Products2

Non-Reference Commodity Products

PRODUCTION VOLUME (’000 MT)

Reference Commodity Products2

Non-Reference Commodity Products

REVENUE PER MT NZD

Reference Commodity Products2

Non-Reference Commodity Products

FY2014

1,970

596

2,037

593

5,836

7,171

FY2013

1,815

692

1,779

626

4,154

5,983

CHANGE

9%

(14%)

15%

(5%)

40%

20%

1  Sales volume includes unprocessed liquid milk, which is not included in the production volumes. 

2  Manufacture of the Reference Commodity Products comprised around 77 per cent of Fonterra’s total New Zealand 

ingredients production in the 2014 financial year.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

31

 
BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

INVESTING IN BRANDS AND 
FOODSERVICE CAPACITY

$262M

Fonterra’s Te Rapa site is one of the Co-operative’s largest manufacturing sites, producing more than 290,000 
tonnes of milk powders and cream products every year.

The Global Ingredients and Operations 
business unit includes corporate costs. 
Operating costs were eight per cent 
higher than last year, mainly due to 
higher investment in global Corporate 
Social Responsibility initiatives and 
higher technology costs, with the 
increase in spend on information 
technology being an investment to 
improve efficiency and productivity.

Working capital days for Global 
Ingredients and Operations were 1.4 
days higher than last year due to higher 
inventory holdings driven by the sharp 
increase in both milk solids collected 
and the cost of that milk. However, part 
of this impact was offset by improved 
credit management and accounts 
receivable days as a result of change 
of sales mix to regions and customers 
where payments are more efficient.

Softening commodity prices towards 
the year end also had an impact on the 
valuation of inventory. This meant that 
the value of some of our products held 
in inventory at year end was higher 
than their expected future selling price. 
As a result, additional provisioning 
has been taken in this financial year 
of $156 million mainly due to pricing.

Earnings from global sourcing were 
$74 million lower than last year mainly 
due to lower exports of high-value 
infant formula from Australia. However, 
price premiums and liquid milk 
contributed positively to normalised 
EBIT. Price premiums achieved above 
dairy commodity prices for ingredients 
and services were $29 million higher 
than last year, which was a good result 
in an environment of strong dairy prices. 

The contribution from liquid milk 
was higher than last year. Liquid 
milk earnings were modest but 
significantly improved compared 
to the loss in the previous year.

32  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014
32  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

CAPACITY AND
OPTIONALITY

Increased milk volumes are welcome and reflect farmer
confidence in Fonterra’s future. Since 2011, we have invested 
$658 million to increase our processing capacity and now have 
a further $946 million being invested in either fast-tracked 
expansion projects or new projects to build capacity in powders 
as well as premium products. Of this investment, $262 million 
is in capacity to support foodservice and consumer brands 
through growing our mozzarella, cream cheese, slice-on-slice 
cheese and UHT production.

TE RAPA

$32 MILLION INVESTMENT
Cream cheese capacity doubled in September 2013. 
WMP, SMP, butter, AMF, cream cheese, frozen cream.

LICHFIELD

$398 MILLION INVESTMENT
The new high efficiency milk powder drier will process 
an additional 4.4 million litres per day. Produces cheese, 
WMP, WPI and will be completed in 2016.

PAHIATUA

$235 MILLION INVESTMENT
New milk powder drier and distribution 
centre produces an additional 
2.4 million litres per day. 
Completion September 2015.

DARFIELD TWO

$290 MILLION INVESTMENT
New milk powder drier and distribution 
centre produces an additional 
4.4 million litres per day. 
Completed August 2013.

EDENDALE

$157 MILLION INVESTMENT
Three new plants, including an
MPC plant, a Reverse Osmosis
Plant and an AMF plant. Will
process an additional 1.4m litres
per day. Commissioned by 2015.

WAITOA UHT

$126 MILLION INVESTMENT
Waitoa is a new UHT milk processing
site. Waitoa can produce more than
100 million litres a year. The first
shipment of UHT to China was in
July 2014. Range of products to be
processed, including Anchor™ UHT
White Milk and UHT Cream.

ELTHAM

$32 MILLION INVESTMENT
Processes specialty cheese and will be 
completed mid 2015.

CLANDEBOYE

$72 MILLION INVESTMENT
This investment increased production of
individual quick frozen (IQF) mozzarella
capacity across New Zealand to over
50,000 MT per year. Produces IQF
grated mozzarella, WMP, SMP, cheese,
butter, AMF, MPC, WPC, lactose. 
Fully implemented by September 2015.

KEY
AMF: Anhydrous Milkfat/butter oil/ghee
MPC: Milk Protein Concentrate
SMP: Skim Milk Powder
UHT: Ultra High Temperature
WMP: Whole Milk Powder
WPC: Whey Protein Concentrate
WPI: Whey Protein Isolate

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 
FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

33
33

 
 
BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

OCEANIA 

Oceania encompasses consumer and out-of-home 
foodservice businesses in Australia and New Zealand, 
and a dairy processing and manufacturing business. 
It also includes RD1, a rural supplies retailer in New Zealand.

VOLUME
Total sales volume of 832,000 MT was 
down six per cent on the previous year. 
This was in part due to the sale of the 
Norco liquid distribution business last 
year. Excluding that impact, volumes are 
down four per cent due to decreased 
infant formula volumes from the 
Australian ingredients business and 
reduced yoghurt volumes in Australia. 
The New Zealand business held volumes 
despite challenging market conditions, 
with growth in the route channel offset 
by lower grocery volumes.

VALUE 
Oceania normalised EBIT was 78 
per cent lower than the prior year at 
$31 million. Both the New Zealand 
and Australian markets have been 
challenging for our consumer 
businesses this year, with higher 
input costs difficult to recover in very 
competitive environments. The earnings 
contribution from the ingredients 
business in Australia improved, as a 
result of higher commodity prices. 

AUSTRALIA
Normalised EBIT in Australia was $37 
million lower than last year as a result 
of margin squeeze in the consumer 
brands business. This was due to 
significantly higher input costs 
driven by high global commodity 
prices and competitive pressure that 
constrained our ability to pass these 
on. Competition in private label has 
intensified with increased industry 
capacity in spreads. Lower volumes in 
the yoghurt and dairy dessert category 
also contributed to lower earnings. 

The yoghurt category remains 
challenging and is a key part of our 
turnaround plan. The advanced 
production facilities that were acquired 
with the purchase of the Tamar Valley 
Dairy business give us the opportunity 
to create value from better meeting 
customer needs through innovation and 
more efficient production. Plans are well 
progressed to broaden the distribution 
of the Tamar Valley Dairy brand within 
the high growth ‘premium’ segment of 
the category.

The business continues to focus 
on building long-term partnerships 
with retailers, and in April 2014 
announced that it had been selected 
as the preferred supplier to process 
Woolworths’ own brand milk in Victoria 
for the next 10 years. The proposed 
long-term arrangement will see Fonterra 
invest more than AU$30 million into a 
state-of-the-art milk processing plant at 
its Cobden site in South West Victoria.

The Australian dairy industry contracted 
for the majority of the year primarily 
due to seasonal variations. However, 
excluding milk recruitment, our existing 
supply base grew production by two per 
cent year on year. This was supported 
by our commitment to ensuring our 
suppliers are profitable. We have done 
this by maintaining cash flow leadership 
for farmers and ensuring they have 
innovative, industry-leading support 
services to manage risk and grow their 
farm businesses.

OPERATING EXPENSES

15%

34  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

FONTERRA IS PROUD TO SUPPORT 
INDUSTRY INITIATIVES

Fonterra’s Foodservice ‘Proud to be a Chef’ programme 
continues to be a success story celebrating 15 years of grass-roots 
industry support in 2014. In the last six years, 190 trainees have 
gone through the programme with many going on to pursue 
successful careers in foodservice.

Fonterra proudly supports the best and brightest Australian 
chefs, and through this programme hopes to encourage them 
to stay with their culinary passion and inspire the future leaders 
of the industry.

Higher global dairy commodity prices 
enabled the Australian ingredients 
business to grow earnings compared 
to the previous year, which more than 
offset the impact of decreased infant 
formula product sales.

In the first half, we acquired a strategic 
nine per cent stake in Bega, a company 
with which Fonterra has a long-standing 
partnership. 

The transformation of the Australian 
business continues to plan and 
significant progress has been made on 
lowering operating costs, with operating 
expenses down 26 per cent (down 16 
per cent in constant currency) and 
streamlining our brands portfolio to 
align with Fonterra’s V3 Strategy. Strong 
momentum has also been built in 
spreads, where the Western Star™ brand 
has achieved record share over the past 
12 months, growing at almost 16 per 
cent in a flat but competitive category. 

The new Australian leadership team is 
focused on milk growth to better utilise 
the asset base, and on turning the wheel 
through the V3 themes of value in retail, 
volume in foodservice, and volume and 
value in ingredients exports.

NEW ZEALAND
Normalised EBIT in our New Zealand 
business fell 61 per cent. This was 
primarily due to margin pressure in 
our consumer brands business, 
which was impacted by the higher 
input costs as a result of the increase 
in commodity prices, and a highly 
competitive market that made it 
difficult to recover those increases. 

We have started to leverage our global 
propositions in our home market with 
the launch of Mainland™ Noble Cheese 
from Australia and Uno from Soprole, 
the first kids’ yoghurt from Anchor™, 
with extra vitamins, minerals and a 
probiotic to help boost kids’ immunity. 

Our farm retailer, RD1, has delivered a 
strong performance with 13 per cent 
revenue growth as the record Milk Price 
boosted farmer spending. This was 
driven by retail store expansion and 
market share growth with the opening 
of three new stores this year, combined 
with strong demand for supplements 
and blends. 

Tip Top™ normalised EBIT fell one per 
cent as this business was also negatively 
impacted by rising commodity costs 
and a decrease in export sales, but 
recovered most of the lost gross 
margin through cost saving initiatives. 
Our recent innovation of all natural 
preservative-free products has been 
very well received by customers with 

Tip Top™ continuing to be the market 
leader in ice cream in New Zealand. 

A strong focus on cost savings and 
efficiencies this year has delivered 
significant results including ongoing 
improvements through a review of 
our brand architecture and product 
line rationalisation combined with 
the sale of the Pastry House business. 
This, combined with the integration 
of the Tip Top™ and consumer brands 
operations, including a reduction in 
head count, has resulted in overall 
operating cost savings of $17 million. 

The New Zealand business continues 
to win awards with the Anchor™ Light 
Proof bottle winning Best Product from 
New Zealand at the World Tour By 
SIAL product awards in Paris in May 
and Kapiti™ winning 17 medals and four 
champion prizes at the New Zealand 
Champions of Cheese Awards, with our 
Kikorangi once again taking the people’s 
choice award.

KEY FINANCIALS

NZD MILLION

Total volume1 (’000 MT)

Revenue 

Gross margin 

Gross margin percentage

Operating expenses

Normalised EBIT

Normalised EBIT percentage

Return on capital employed

1  Total volume includes intercompany volumes.

YEAR ENDED 
31 JULY 2014

YEAR ENDED
31 JULY 2013

CHANGE

832

3,600

583

16.2%

(574)

31

0.9%

1.1%

884

3,745

756

20.2%

(677)

142

3.8%

4.7%

(6%)

(4%)

(23%)

(15%)

(78%)

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

35

 
BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

ASIA

Asia comprises Fonterra’s consumer and foodservice businesses 
in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Greater China. Asia brands 
cover a wide range of consumer and customer needs ranging from 
everyday dairy nutrition under Anchor™, Fernleaf™ and Ratthi™,  
to advanced nutrition offerings under Anlene™ and Anmum™.  
The business also includes China Farms.

VOLUME
Asia includes a number of Fonterra’s 
key leadership and strategic markets, 
and success in this region represents 
a critical part of delivering Fonterra’s 
V3 Strategy. The focus in the current 
year has been to increase volume by 
taking a long-term view on global dairy 
pricing dynamics. 

Our key leadership and strategic 
markets in Asia are Malaysia, Sri Lanka, 
Indonesia and China. These make up 80 
per cent of volume across Asia. 

Volume growth of 12 per cent to 
419,000 MT was driven primarily by 
excellent performance across China. 
Sales volume from our farming business 
was up 65 per cent as a result of the 
continued expansion of our operations, 
with the first hub in the Yutian province 
now complete. Foodservice across 
Asia was up 11 per cent with continued 
demand for our chef-led approach, 
organic market growth in Indonesia and 
further market penetration in bakery 
chains in Malaysia and China. 

Foodservice growth exceeded capacity 
available from New Zealand to fully 
deliver on customer needs. The 
investments in mozzarella capacity at 
Clandeboye, UHT capacity at Waitoa 
and cream cheese capacity at Te Rapa 
aim to address these constraints and 
support further foodservice expansion.

In Indonesia, volumes were up 20 per 
cent, driven by market share growth 
in foodservice, our premium brands, 
Anlene™, Anmum™ and Anchor™ 
Boneeto, and further expansion of our 
foodservice business. Indonesia is a key 
strategic market, with a large population 
and rapidly growing middle class. The 
current year’s performance was driven 
by improved supply and distribution 
execution, after supply chain challenges 
around reaching customers in the 
previous year. 

Volumes were down 20 per cent in  
Sri Lanka. This is a leadership market 
for Fonterra, where the Anchor™ brand 
holds the number one market share 
position in Full Cream Milk Powder, the 
largest dairy category in Sri Lanka. In 
the first half of the year, the temporary 
suspension of our operations resulted 
in a large short-term decline in volumes 
and a temporary loss of the market 
leadership position. Through the hard 
work of staff and the success of the 
‘We Believe in Anchor™’ campaign, 
market share has rebounded strongly to 
previous levels. However, the short-term 
challenges had a considerable impact 
on volumes compared to the prior year. 
Excluding Sri Lanka, volumes across Asia 
increased 18 per cent.

VOLUME GROWTH

12%

36  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

Fonterra remains 
committed to the 
Sri Lanka market and 
is supporting the local 
dairy industry through 
partnering with 
farmers to help bring 
New Zealand farming 
best practice to this 
part of the world.

VALUE
Normalised EBIT for the year was 
$91 million, 56 per cent lower than 
last year and 53 per cent lower on a 
constant currency basis. Across the 
Asia region, significantly higher input 
costs as a result of the high dairy 
commodity prices have been the key 
driver of the decrease in earnings, along 
with the challenging market conditions 
experienced in Sri Lanka in the first half 
of the year. 

Given the significance of the Asia 
region to our V3 Strategy, it is 
important to maintain our focus 
on market share and volume 
growth, which turns the wheel to 
higher-value products from our 
farmers’ milk. 

Price increases were taken in line with 
individual market conditions, while 
ensuring that the Co-operative was 
positioned for future earnings growth. 
This approach, along with the strength 
of our Anlene™, Anmum™ and Anchor™ 
global brands allowed us to continue to 
grow our volumes in a challenging year.

In Sri Lanka, earnings were impacted 
by the temporary suspension of our 
operations in August 2013. The recovery 
in market share back to previous levels 
was a significant achievement for the 
team in Sri Lanka given the challenging 
environment and reflects the strength 
of the Anchor™ brand in that market. 
Fonterra remains committed to the 
Sri Lanka market, and is supporting 
the local dairy industry through 
partnering with farmers to help bring 
New Zealand farming best practice to 
this part of the world.

Challenges in Malaysia’s economic 
environment resulted in a lower take-up 
in the premium milk powder category, 

translating into lower sales of our 
premium segment of Anlene™ and 
Anmum™. On the positive side, market 
share of key segments of everyday 
nutrition expanded and our foodservice 
business grew volume by 14 per cent.

Indonesia had good top line growth 
with constant currency revenue growth 
of 34 per cent driven by volume growth 
of 20 per cent and price increases. 
The currency had a negative impact 
resulting in revenue growth of 10 per 
cent. Despite good growth in sales, 
EBIT was significantly lower than last 
year due to higher input costs and 
the significant devaluation of the 
Indonesian rupiah. 

KEY FINANCIALS

NZD MILLION

Total volume1 (‘000 MT)

Revenue 

Gross margin 

Gross margin percentage

Operating expenses

Normalised EBIT

Normalised EBIT percentage

Return on capital employed

1  Total volume includes intercompany volumes.

YEAR ENDED 
31 JULY 2014

YEAR ENDED
31 JULY 2013

CHANGE

419

2,168

581

26.8%

(505)

91

4.2%

8.5%

375

2,059

702

34.1%

(519)

209

10.2%

22.3%

12%

5%

(17%)

(3%)

(56%)

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

37

 
Demand for 
foodservice 
products continues 
to grow thanks to 
our chef-led strategy.

GREATER CHINA
In Greater China, there has been 
continued growth in a number of 
strategically important areas. Normalised 
EBIT grew 38 per cent, driven by our 
farming business and foodservice, 
which performed well despite supply 
constraints of UHT products.

Our farming operations benefited from 
increased volumes and higher per litre 
prices achieved for our milk. This was 
driven by supply shortages in China and 
the desire of our customers to secure a 
high-quality source of milk. Our Yutian 
hub of four farms in the Hebei province 
is complete, with work underway at the 
second hub in the Shanxi province. 

Fonterra and Abbott have 
signed an agreement to develop 
a proposed third dairy farm 
hub in China. The strategic 
alliance, which is subject to 
Chinese regulatory approval, will 
leverage Fonterra’s expertise in 
dairy nutrition and farming in 
China and Abbott’s continued 
commitment to business 
development in China. 

BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Construction of the new packing and 
blending facility is underway in West 
Java and will be operational by the end 
of March 2015. We have invested $36 
million in this plant, which is our first 
manufacturing facility in the country. 
Once complete, the plant will have 
the capacity to blend and pack 12,000 
MT of advanced and base nutrition 
milk powders annually, which is the 
equivalent of 87,000 packs of Anlene™, 
Anmum™ and Anchor™ Boneeto  
every day. 

In the Middle East, volumes were 
slightly lower due to exiting a co-
packing partnership in Saudi Arabia. 
Adjusting for this, volume growth was 
higher than last year by three per cent, 
driven by jar cheese and butter. 

ASIA FOODSERVICE GROWTH 
(EXCLUDING GREATER CHINA)

Excluding Greater China, demand for 
foodservice was strong across Asia, 
with volumes 11 per cent higher and 
revenue up 21 per cent in constant 
currency reflecting continued strong 
delivery from our chef-led strategy. 
However, gross margins fell due to 
higher input costs. 

Excluding Greater China, operating 
costs across Asia decreased eight per 
cent, including a favourable impact 
on translation from the strong New 
Zealand dollar. In constant currency, the 
reduction of one per cent was the result 
of better management of advertising 
and promotion across all markets. 
This was driven by the need to ensure 
the effectiveness of spend given the 
environment of increased prices, and 
finding value from more lower cost 
non-traditional marketing methods, 
including social media. 

11%

38  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

We increased our China farms’ production volumes and secured higher per litre prices.

Farming hubs are a key part of our 
strategy to be a more integrated 
dairy business in China, contribute to 
the growth and development of the 
local Chinese dairy industry and help 
meet local consumers’ needs for safe, 
nutritious dairy products.

A pilot of the full range of Anmum™ 
infant formula (Anmum™) was launched 
in the cities of Chengdu and Guangzhou 
late last year. The team has adopted an 
integrated sales strategy to introduce 
Anmum™ both online and in store in 
China enabling it to have a greater reach. 

The foodservice business in Greater 
China delivered growth in volume and 
revenue, however higher input costs 
put pressure on margins. The rollout 
into seven new Chinese cities and the 
development of new products as well as 
new applications for existing ingredients 
continues to support growth in this 
business. Foodservice is now in 26 cities 
in China, up from 19 cities last year. 

In August last year, our China business 
successfully launched Anchor™ UHT 
and it is now available in 1,900 stores 
and 18 cities across the Yangtze River 
Delta with a market share of five per 
cent, as well as 14 cities outside the 
Yangtze River Delta.

Anmum™ is now available in eight 
cities, while Anmum™ Materna has 
been rolled out to an additional 20 
cities reaching 64 cities and covering 
most of the cities where Anlene™ has 
a presence. All our consumer brands, 
including Anchor™ UHT, are also 
available nationwide through the top 
e-retailers T-mall, Yihaodin and JD.

The China foodservice and consumer 
businesses suffered supply constraints 
from UHT being shipped from  
New Zealand. However, both Anchor™ 
UHT and the continued foodservice 
growth will be supported through 
increased investment in production 
capacity, including the recently 
commissioned Waitoa UHT plant 
where commercial production has 
commenced. The new mozzarella 
capacity at Clandeboye, the cream 
cheese facility at Te Rapa and the slice-
on-slice investment at Eltham, will help 
to support foodservice expansion.

Farming hubs 
are a key part 
of our strategy 
to be a more 
integrated dairy 
business in China.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

39

 
BUSINESS REVIEW FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

LATIN AMERICA 

As at 31 July 2014, Latin America encompasses Soprole, the 
market-leading integrated dairy business in Chile and an 
investment in Dairy Partners Americas, a 50/50 joint venture 
with Nestlé covering several markets in Latin America including 
Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina. Latin 
America also includes an in-market ingredients sourcing and 
sales business, a foodservice business in the Caribbean and an 
investment in Dairy Industries (Jamaica) Limited, a 50/50 joint 
venture with GraceKennedy Group.

VOLUME
Latin America grew volumes by three 
per cent to 387,000 MT, driven mainly 
by our Soprole business in Chile. 
Consumer volumes in Soprole were 
up two per cent, driven by growth 
in liquid milk, mature cheese and 
powdered milk, while milk powder 
sales to the Government Health 
Programme also increased. 

Soprole continues to grow 
volumes through new product 
development. The cheese 
category in Chile is relatively 
small when compared to other 
parts of South America but the 
Soprole team has used innovation 
in serving size and packaging to 
expand beyond the traditional 
products to help grow the 
category by nine per cent on 
the prior year.

VALUE
Our business across Latin America was 
also impacted by higher input costs, 
with the Farmgate Milk Price up on 
average by 13 per cent. Normalised EBIT 
decreased 19 per cent to $111 million. 
Excluding the impact of the strong New 
Zealand dollar, earnings fell 12 per cent.

The key driver of lower normalised 
EBIT was Soprole, where earnings fell 
40 per cent, or 31 per cent in constant 
currency. The higher milk price, along 
with increased costs in packaging, 
raw materials, energy and transport, 
principally as a result of the weaker 
Chilean peso, resulted in a lower margin 
as these increased input costs could 
not be fully passed on to customers, 
especially as economic conditions in 
Chile were weaker than the prior year. 
The business has maintained its strong 
market share position and is well placed 
for long-term success. 

Storage and distribution expenses were 
also higher, as the business transitioned 
to a new centralised distribution centre, 
creating some duplication over the 
transition period. The change means that 
Soprole is well positioned to improve 
service levels and drive efficiencies in 
this area as the business grows.

Soprole has positioned the business 
for the more challenging economic 
environment ahead with a review and 
realignment of its structure. 

SOPROLE CHEESE CATEGORY 
GROWTH

9%

40  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

This year, around 
20 new product 
innovations were 
launched to the 
market including 
Zero Lacto (family 
of products for the 
lactose intolerant) 
and Soprole Light.

Innovation has a fundamental role in 
maintaining the relationship with our 
consumers and driving volume and 
earnings growth. This year, around 20 
new product innovations were launched 
to the market including Zero Lacto 
(family of products for the lactose 
intolerant) and Soprole Light. 

The DPA Brazil chilled and liquids 
business EBIT declined from the 
previous year as higher milk costs have 
only been partially recovered through 
retail pricing due to a competitive 
pricing environment. The Caribbean 
foodservice business also experienced 
lower earnings due to milk cost 
increases that could not be recovered.

Earnings increased for the DPA Venezuela 
liquid and chilled joint venture. In part this 
was a result of some one-offs, including 
a hyperinflationary accounting gain and 
a land sale. This remains a challenging 
market and the underlying business 
performance was constantly reviewed 
to meet market demands. 

The Southern Cone ingredients business 
benefited from improved pricing for 
dairy ingredients and the conclusion of 
some spot contractual sales, resulting in 
a return to profitability.

Together with Nestlé, we have revised 
our 10-year-old Dairy Partners Americas 
(DPA) joint venture to better reflect 
each company’s respective strategies. 
From August 2014, Fonterra now has 
a 51 per cent controlling stake in DPA 
Brazil, with Nestlé holding the balance. 
We have taken over Nestlé’s share of 
DPA Venezuela together with a local 
partner, and increased our share to 

Soprole’s new distribution centre will ensure a more efficient supply chain.

KEY FINANCIALS

NZD MILLION

Total volume1 (’000 MT)

Revenue 

Gross margin 

Gross margin percentage

Operating expenses

Normalised EBIT

Normalised EBIT percentage

Return on capital employed

YEAR ENDED 
31 JULY 2014

YEAR ENDED
31 JULY 2013

CHANGE

387

1,161

267

23.0%

(198)

111

9.6%

15.1%

377

1,135

303

26.7%

(191)

137

12.1%

18.2%

3%

2%

(12%)

4%

(19%)

1  Total volume includes intercompany volumes.

60 per cent. The other announced 
changes to the DPA alliance include 
Nestlé buying Fonterra’s share of DPA 
Ecuador and the DPA milk powder 
manufacturing businesses with 
settlement due to be completed later 
in the year.

The restructuring of the DPA agreement 
opens the way to develop the foodservice 
and everyday nutrition strategy across 
all dairy categories in Latin America 
including cheese and butter while 
maintaining Nestlé as a joint venture 
partner in Brazil.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

41

 
SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

SUSTAINABILITY 
AND SOCIAL 
RESPONSIBILITY

A healthy environment and society means a healthy business. 
Our contribution to environmental health, community wellbeing 
and economic prosperity is key to our overall success and our 
ability to operate effectively.

SUSTAINABLE  
DAIRYING
Fonterra farmers continue 
to take the lead in adopting 
sustainable farming practices.

NEW ZEALAND 
In New Zealand our farmers are focused 
on building a sustainable, resilient 
dairy industry which is supported by 
New Zealanders. We are supporting 
our farmers’ activities with our Supply 
Fonterra programme which sets out 
environmental, animal health and 
food safety requirements and assists 
our farmers to meet regulatory 
requirements and build sustainable 
farming operations. Our Supply 
Fonterra commitments include:

Annual Farm Dairy and 
Environmental Assessments
Every farm supplying Fonterra in 
New Zealand is visited annually through 
our Farm Dairy and Environmental 
Assessments. This ensures each 
Fonterra farm meets specific milk 
quality and environmental standards. 
If improvements are needed, plans 
are developed with our farmers 
to help them achieve these within 
agreed timeframes.

Roger Madson, farmer; Angus Woods, Area Manager; 
and Food Safety Manager, Lance Pepper – Waihi.

Effluent Management
Thanks to the investments by our 
farmers, good progress continues 
towards our aim to have effluent systems 
and management practices capable of 
meeting regional council regulations 365 
days a year. These systems are checked 
as part of the annual Farm Dairy and 
Environmental Assessments. 

In the 2013/14 season, the 
progress made by our farmers 
was clear with a 50 per cent 
reduction in the number of farms 
referred to our Sustainable Dairy 
Advisors and total identified risks 
reduced by 35 per cent.

STOCK EXCLUSION FROM WATERWAYS 
ACHIEVED ON NEW ZEALAND FARMS

951
%

Animal Health and Welfare
The Fonterra Animal Health and 
Welfare booklet provides information 
to support our farmers including 
regulations and codes of welfare, 
reference materials and toolsets. 
Compliance with a number of animal 
health and welfare aspects is mandatory, 
including humane slaughter practices, 
fitness for transport and humane 
management of painful procedures.

Waterway Management
This year, the mapping of waterways 
on more than 8,670 Fonterra farms was 
completed, and the significant efforts 
of our farmers saw 95 per cent1 (23,300 
kilometres) of defined waterways stock 
excluded. In addition, 99 per cent of 
regular stock crossing points now have 
bridges or culverts installed.

1  This excludes approximately 450 kilometres of waterways with dispensations, most of which have management plans requiring temporary stock exclusion measures until 

permanent fencing is constructed. In some cases, the dispensations relate to areas not accessed by dairy animals.

42  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014
42  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS TRENDS – NZ MILK PRODUCTION

kg CO2 e per kg of FPCM

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.65

0.64

0.63

0.64

0.4

0.2

0.0

0.11

0.12

2009/10

0.05

0.12

0.12

0.07

0.11

0.11

0.06

0.12

0.12

0.07

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

Animal Emissions

Other On-farm

Land Use Change

Brought-in Feeds

Fonterra is a signatory to the 
Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord, 
a pan-industry commitment to 
New Zealand to enhance the overall 
contribution of dairying to water 
quality improvements. 

AUSTRALIA
In Australia, Fonterra’s milk is supplied 
by around 1,200 farmers. They are 
always looking to identify opportunities 
for them to increase profitability and 
reduce their environmental impacts.

The accord has targets focused on 
effluent management, nutrient 
management, water use efficiency and 
waterway management, including stock 
exclusion and riparian management. 

Nitrogen Management
Our Nitrogen Management Programme 
targets nutrient use efficiency. Farm data 
provided by our farmers is used to create 
farm specific reports showing modeled 
nitrogen conversion efficiency and 
nitrogen loss risk. Regional comparisons 
are included so our farmers can compare 
performance. This information collection 
and modelling process was underway 
in the 2013/14 season and addresses 
Fonterra’s commitments under the 
Sustainable Dairying: Water Accord.

The Fonterra SupportCrew™ 
programme provides farmers in 
Australia with access to a team 
of highly skilled specialists, with 
expertise and skill sets in the 
areas of finance, nutrition and 
agronomy, human resource 
management, quality and 
sustainability. The aim is to 
improve farm profitability and 
production and the efficient use 
of natural resources.

The programme has now completed 
182 on-farm environmental projects, 
with a further 64 still in progress. 
Once these projects are completed, 
more than 20 per cent of our suppliers 
in Australia will have participated 
in an on-farm environmental project. 
To deliver these projects farmers’ 
own investments on-farm have 
been supported by the Australian 
Government’s Carbon Farming 
Futures programme and NRM North2 
in Tasmania.

Nick Dawson, farmer, and Tony Haslett, Fonterra Area 
Manager – Pakatoa.

CARBON FOOTPRINT OF MILK
New Zealand
The 2012/13 full lifecycle estimate of 
greenhouse gas emissions for New 
Zealand milk at the farm gate is 0.95kg 
CO2e per kg of fat and protein corrected 
milk (FPCM). This has increased from 
0.90 in 2011/12 due to a number of 
factors. A revision in the Ministry for 
the Environment (MfE) methodology 
accounting for land use change has 
increased reported emissions3. There 
has also been an increase in the use 
of supplementary feed, influenced by 
widespread back-to-back droughts 
across New Zealand, which have 
significantly impacted pasture growth.

China
Quantifying the emissions of the 
China farms is an important first step 
in identifying opportunities to reduce 
our footprint. The 2012/13 full lifecycle 
estimate of greenhouse gas emissions 
for milk at the farmgate was calculated 
as an average of 1.31kg CO2e per kg fat 
and protein corrected milk (FPCM) for 
the Yutian 1 farm. 

2  NRM North is a non-profit organisation working with the North Tasmanian community on Natural Resource Management (NRM) issues.
3  An update in the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) methodology accounting for land use change includes a revision in the estimates of deforested land using satellite 
imagery and aerial photography. Official confirmations of deforested land are received from forest land under the Emissions Trading Scheme. As forest land owners have 
four years to report deforestation under the Emissions Trading Scheme, the amount of land use conversion for previous years could still be revised upwards. The final figure 
can only be officially confirmed after four years. Uncertainty also remains in relation to the contribution of land use change directly to dairying land. There is no primary 
data available in regards to the amount of forest land converted to dairying land. An assumption has been made using a Deforestation Intentions Survey produced by the 
University of Canterbury, taking the average value for the intended use of deforested land from forest owners surveyed between 2006 and 2013 (70 per cent conversion to 
dairying land, Deforestation Intentions Survey, Manly, (2006-2013)). Fonterra will update these figures annually, based on the latest data available.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 
FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

43
43

 
 
SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

MANUFACTURING ENERGY USE
PER TONNE OF PROUDCTION ( GJ/T)

8.41

8.40

8.49

8.40

8.37

10

8

6

4

2

0

New Zealand manufacturing site, Darfield.

SUSTAINABLE  
MANUFACTURING
Fonterra is the world’s largest 
dairy processor and the scale 
of our operations is significant. 
The majority of our operations 
are based in New Zealand, 
where we collect 84 per cent of 
our global milk supply4. Australia 
is our second largest milk pool 
and asset base. 

We aim to operate sustainably and 
efficiently with a focus on reducing 
emissions and waste, and improving 
water and energy efficiency. We take 
social and environmental considerations 
into account in our operations today 
and when we plan for tomorrow. 
Investments in new plant, for example, 
aim to include the most resource-
efficient technologies.

NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA
Emissions
Our greenhouse gas emission intensity 
has decreased from 0.63 tonnes to 0.62 
tonnes CO2e per tonne of production 
from 2012/13 to 2013/14, representing 
a two per cent reduction.

While energy and emission intensity 
performance of our New Zealand 
operations overall is similar to last 
year, less adverse weather conditions 
this year have led to fuller plants and 
increased production volumes, which 
assisted our energy and emissions 

intensity performance. A number of 
factors negatively impacted energy and 
emission intensity results. 

We experienced unexpected energy 
supply issues that lowered boiler 
efficiencies in some instances, with a 
number of utility failures resulting in site 
downtimes and increased energy use. 

In Australia we achieved a six per cent 
reduction in emissions intensity for 
the year, a trend of carbon intensity 
reduction across our Australian 
operations. Our last operational coal-
fired facility at Cororooke was closed in 
October 2013, leading to the elimination 
of more than 20,000 tonnes of coal-
related greenhouse gas emissions  
per annum. 

Energy
The efficient use of energy remains a 
key contributor towards our goal of 
reducing emissions. Energy use per 
tonne of production in New Zealand 
and Australia decreased from 8.405 
GJ/tonne in the 2013 financial year 
to 8.37 GJ/tonne in the 2014 financial 
year. While parts of the business saw 
greater reductions in energy intensity, 
significantly higher milk flows in 
New Zealand in the year led to 
product mix being weighted more 
heavily towards the higher-intensity 
ingredients products. 

Fonterra has one of the largest energy 
efficiency programmes in New Zealand 
which is currently in its eleventh year of 
operation. The programme is designed 
to reduce the energy intensity per tonne 

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

ENERGY USE PER TONNE IN NEW ZEALAND AND 
AUSTRALIA MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS

REDUCTION IN MANUFACTURING 
ENERGY INTENSITY SINCE 2003

15%

of product manufactured and since 2003 
has achieved a 15 per cent reduction in 
manufacturing energy intensity. 

This year, we commissioned the next 
stage of investment in our new energy-
efficient Darfield site. We are recording 
lower energy use as a result of the 
stage one investment, with efficiency 
improvements of up to 12 per cent 
in comparison to older technologies. 
Further improvements have been made 
in our overall energy and emission 
performance through the closure 
of the Plains site in Christchurch, 
with milk diverted to more efficient 
manufacturing sites. 

Energy efficiency initiatives continue to 
be developed and implemented across 
our manufacturing sites. A focus on 
energy efficiency at our Edendale and 
Stirling sites since 2011 has achieved an 
approximate three per cent reduction 
in energy use and reduced emissions at 
these sites by more than 8,800 tonnes 
of CO2e per annum. 

4  Of Fonterra’s global milk collections by business ownership, 84 per cent for the 2013-2014 production season (1 June 2013 – 31 May 2014) was collected in New Zealand. 

5  This was reported as 8.38 GJ/tonne in the 2013 Annual Report but this has increased slightly as the data for July 2013 which was used in the calculation of the prior 

year number was based on an estimate when the 2013 Annual Report was published.

44  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

Takapuna Grammar students in Auckland, New Zealand with Paper4Trees recycling crates, each made from 36 
recycled Anchor™ Light Proof bottles.

In September 2013, Fonterra Australia 
completed an upgrade to energy-efficient 
cheese making technology at the 
Wynyard, Tasmania site. The upgraded 
vats can now be heated by surplus hot 
water already available on site.

This initiative leverages low-emissions 
energy already generated by Wynyard’s 
cogeneration system, reducing carbon 
emissions from the essential milk-
warming portion of the cheese making 
process by 90 per cent. 

Water
Our New Zealand operations used 
42 million cubic metres of water and 
recycled or reused six per cent of total 
use. This is an increase of two million 
cubic metres on the prior year, mainly as 
the result of more milk being processed 
and a new processing plant coming on 
stream. Water use per tonne decreased 
by over two per cent. As Fonterra builds 
new capacity we are committed to 
investing in resource efficient plants.

The Pahiatua site expansion 
will set a new water efficiency 
benchmark with all evaporator 
condensate from the new drier 
to be reused.

This allows the milk processing capacity 
of the site to be increased, without any 
additional water being required, over 
and above the water volume already 
consented for use by the site.

Our Australian operations used 3.2 
million cubic metres of water in the 
period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014, 
compared to 3.7 million cubic metres of 
water in the prior period. The water use 
was reduced per tonne of production by 
eight per cent, primarily due to product 
mix decisions. Our Darnum site is water 
efficient and can harvest and reuse 
water when manufacturing skim and 
whole milk powders. 

Waste 
In our New Zealand operations, 
including our consumer businesses, 
94 per cent of solid waste was reused or 
recycled. This is the fourth consecutive 
year we have surpassed our target to 
reuse or recycle at least 90 per cent of 
our solid waste.

We have partnered with Envirofert to 
divert food waste from landfill. We are 
converting dairy products that are past 
their ‘best before’ date, damaged or 
out of specification into stock food or 
compost. A de-packaging plant recovers 
product packaging for recycling and 
rebates are donated to local not-for-
profit organisations. 

Overall, our eco-efficiency programme 
continues to reduce the environmental 
impact of manufacturing through 
refining, reusing and recycling.

In 2011, we established the Recycle 
Lab, an innovative recycling and waste 
minimisation programme that has 
reduced waste to landfill by more than 
8,400 tonnes since 2011.

Our Recycle Lab 
has cut waste to 
landfill by more than 
8,400 MT since 2011.

NEW ZEALAND OPERATIONS REUSED 
OR RECYCLED SOLID WASTE

94%

TRANSPORT
Milk Collection Fleet Efficiency
We are continuing to upgrade our 
tanker fleet to high efficiency trucks. 
Changes to our milk collection 
scheduling processes have improved 
diesel consumption by 10 per cent for 
every 100 kilometres travelled since 
the 2010 financial year. The changes 
focused on collection routes, tanker 
loads and driver performance and have 
delivered an improvement in energy 
and emission intensity.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

45

 
SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Maungaturoto Primary, celebrating the completion of the national rollout of Fonterra Milk for Schools.

SUPPORTING 
COMMUNITIES
Fonterra is committed to working 
on initiatives that are important 
to our communities and to 
our people. We make the most 
valuable difference when we 
share what we do best – our dairy 
ingenuity and knowledge and the 
nutritional benefits of dairy.

NEW ZEALAND
Fonterra Milk for Schools
Our Fonterra Milk for Schools 
programme is helping to improve the 
health of future generations of New 
Zealanders. In May 2014, the national 
rollout of Fonterra Milk for Schools was 
completed. More than 1,490 schools 
are now participating, which means 
approximately 170,000 children, more 
than 70 per cent of all primary schools, 
can now drink milk every day of the 
school term. 

With high satisfaction and participation 
rates from schools, drinking milk is 
being established as a normal part 
of the school day. Our Fonterra Milk 
for Schools programme has enabled 
Fonterra farmers to connect with Kiwi 
kids and has demonstrated our farmers’ 
commitment to their communities by 
providing and promoting dairy nutrition.

46  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

KickStart Breakfast 
Our KickStart Breakfast programme 
has been running since 2009 as a 
partnership between Fonterra and 
Sanitarium. The programme was 
expanded in the year, with additional 
support from the Government enabling 
the programme to be made available 
from two to five days a week, across 
all school deciles. 

The programme works in partnership 
with schools and their communities, 
supports 761 schools’ KickStart Breakfast 
clubs across the country and serves 
more than 100,000 breakfasts per week.

Enjoying KickStart Breakfast at Te Ara Whanui school 
in Alicetown, Wellington.

The Fonterra Grass Roots Fund 
For seven years, our Fonterra Grass 
Roots Fund has supported school 
groups, educational groups, charitable 
trusts, sports clubs and local emergency 
services to help clever initiatives happen 
in our rural communities. Community 
groups can apply for grants of up to 
$5,000 to get their projects underway. 

This year, approximately $600,000 
was provided to 261 New Zealand 
community organisations and projects.

More than 70 
per cent of all 
New Zealand 
primary schools 
can now drink milk 
every day of the 
school term.

KICKSTART BREAKFASTS 
PER WEEK, MORE THAN

100,000

Living Water Partnership with the 
Department of Conservation 
In March 2013, we began a 10-year, 
$20 million partnership agreement 
with the Department of Conservation 
(DOC) with an aim to work together 
to help improve the health of New 
Zealand’s waterways. Our Living Water 
programme is initially focused on five 
sensitive water bodies including 
Kaipara Harbour, Tikapa Moana/
Firth of Thames, Waikato Peat Lakes, 
Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere and 
Awarua/Waituna Lagoon. DOC’s 
conservation expertise, with our on-
farm environmental programme and 
the support of farmers, iwi, councils and 
environmental care groups, will help 
achieve our joint vision of a sustainable 
dairy industry as part of healthy 
functioning ecosystems.

We have developed catchment specific 
operational plans for our programme 
sites and 16 diverse start-up projects 
are currently underway. 

Sri Lanka early childhood development centre.

CHINA
The Fonterra Rural Maternity 
and Infant Healthcare 
Community Programme
The Fonterra Rural Maternity and Infant 
Healthcare Community programme was 
established in 2009 in partnership with 
the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation 
to provide medical care and advice to 
pregnant women, mothers of infants 
and children in rural communities. This 
programme has touched the lives of 
more than 10 million people in rural 
communities across China. 

In the 2014 financial year, the 
programme was expanded to multiple 
provinces simultaneously. Twelve fully 
equipped ambulances were donated 
to Hu’nan, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, 
Sichuan and Chongqing provinces. 
Maternity and child healthcare training 
was delivered to 2,091 medical workers 
from 1,591 hospitals and medicare 
centres across Hu’nan province.

In co-operation with the Beijing Union 
Medical College Hospital, a national 
prenatal diagnostic techniques training 
programme was launched as part of the 
programme’s vision for improved rural 
infant and maternal healthcare.

Fonterra Farmer Training Programme
Fonterra established a Farmer Training 
Programme in 2012 in partnership with 
China’s Ministry of Agriculture. It is part 
of our commitment to work alongside 
the Chinese Government to develop 
the local dairy industry. The programme 
includes courses on prevention and 
control of animal disease as well as 
management of animal health. 

In the past two years, the programme 
has trained nearly 2,000 local farmers 
to improve their farming skills.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
ChildFund – Indonesia, the 
Philippines and Sri Lanka
Our joint programme with ChildFund 
supports children’s nutrition, health and 
education activities at early childhood 
development centres and community 
based programmes in Indonesia, the 
Philippines and Sri Lanka. 

Through our partnership with 
ChildFund, more than 1,500 
children have received nutritious 
food, medical check-ups and 
access to multivitamins and 
de-worming medication. We have 
constructed or upgraded 49 early 
childhood development centres 
and organised 54 home-based 
programmes.

Since 2011, we 
have been in 
partnership with 
ChildFund, with the 
aim of improving the 
overall development 
of some of the most 
deprived and vulnerable 
pre-school children 
in Southeast Asia.

More than 4,000 mothers, fathers and 
caregivers have learned about maternal 
health and childcare, and more than 
900 families have received seeds to 
plant home gardens for better child 
nutrition. We have also trained 461 
daycare workers, pre-school teachers 
and community health workers to 
improve their knowledge, behaviour and 
practices in childcare and development.

Indonesia Dairy Development 
Fonterra works in partnership with the 
Indonesian Government to improve the 
capability and capacity of the local dairy 
industry. Our industry support includes 
a comprehensive Fonterra Dairy 
Scholarship training programme. The 
programme scholarships are awarded 
to dairy farmers, dairy extension officers 
and dairy service providers, to enable 
them to improve their dairy knowledge. 
The Indonesian Directorate General of 
Livestock and Animal Health, Massey 
University and Taratahi Agricultural 
Training Centre, are valued partners in 
the delivery of this programme.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

47

 
SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Soprole’s school 
sports programme 
supports the health 
and wellbeing of 
Chilean children.

Soprole school sports programme.

Sri Lanka Dairy Development
Fonterra continues to support dairy 
development in Sri Lanka, with a focus 
on developing a network of farms to 
operate as training hubs for local staff 
and farmers, seeking to demonstrate 
best-practice, sustainable dairy farming.

Since 2013, a pilot group of 
10 farmers has completed 
several training modules. 
Increases in fodder production, 
milk volume, animal growth 
rates and income have been 
recorded from farms participating 
in our pilot programme. 

Milk volumes increased by around  
42 per cent during the pilot, and 
dairy derived incomes improved by 
up to 37 per cent. Poor herd nutrition 
was addressed as a major barrier 
to improved farm productivity and 
profitability. Reproduction in herds has 
improved, along with calf growth rates, 
and training to identify mastitis led to 
improved milk quality on all farms.

LATIN AMERICA
Chile – Soprole school  
sports programme
Soprole’s school sports programme 
attracts thousands of participants, along 
with the involvement of families and 
local communities to support the health 
and wellbeing of Chilean children. 

Our Soprole school sports programme 
works with local sports clubs and 
organisations that manage sporting 
events. Over the past 13 years we have 
expanded to many different regions, 
organising sports events throughout the 
year from Arica to Punta Arenas. During 
this time, more than 1,800 educational 
organisations have participated in 
sporting events or tournaments 
in chess, athletics, swimming and 
volleyball, and nearly 4,000 football, 
basketball and volleyball matches were 
organised, with an estimated 55,000 
regular participants over the year.

TAKING CARE
Dairy products are part of a 
healthy diet in virtually every 
culture in the world. We have 
an unrelenting commitment to 
our customers and consumers in 
more than 100 countries that the 
products we make for them will 
meet the highest standards for 
food safety and quality. We also 
take our duty of care seriously 
with our own people. Their skills 
and experience contribute to our 
success. Our health and safety 
policies are aimed at minimising 
harm at work and encouraging 
balanced lifestyles. 

FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY 
The Fonterra Quality System ensures 
that wherever we are located in the 
world, we have a clear, consistent 
framework to deliver quality products 
and services. Quality is everyone’s 
responsibility and our quality framework 
includes policies, processes and training 
so that this responsibility can be met.

Cumbres vs Everest, Soprole sports programme.

48  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

Our overall product 
performance was 
again assessed 
by Fonterra’s 
customers, via 
the 2014 customer 
value management 
survey where we 
achieved a score 
of 8.1 for the year.

• 

• 

 We have continued to carry out milk 
quality audits and improvement 
programmes across the 16 countries 
where we source milk, thereby raising 
the standard of the milk we source 
across the globe. This has not only 
provided benefit to Fonterra, but also 
to the numerous dairy farmers we 
source from.

 A Quality Leadership Team has been 
established at senior management 
level to drive Fonterra’s quality 
strategy and culture. This senior 
team oversees policies, standards 
and positions in food safety and 
quality, will monitor compliance and 
ensure emerging risks are understood 
and managed.

Our overall product performance 
was again assessed by Fonterra’s 
customers, via the 2014 customer value 
management survey where we achieved 
a score of 8.1 for the year. 

For the fifth consecutive year 
we have achieved a value of 
above 8.0, which is considered 
best in class.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

49

Sally Tatopau and Marie Marshall from our Bulk Take Home department at Tip Top™ ice cream factory in Auckland.

This system ensures control of product 
quality from farm to customer. It 
includes a rigorous testing regime that 
starts at the point of milk collection 
and runs through the supply chain. 
In addition to our own testing, 
independent and external tests provide 
further reassurance on the quality and 
safety of our products.

Our system undergoes regular 
scrutiny with audits on our plants 
and processes. These audits are 
undertaken by us, regulators and our 
customers. The robustness of our 
system was recognised in the internal 
and independent reviews following the 
precautionary recall last year. We also 
had this robustness acknowledged in 
customer audits this year.

The Fonterra Quality System 
is guided by four principles: 
think and live quality, deliver on 
our promises, right first time, 
every time, and continuous 
improvement. 

This year, initiatives aimed at 
continuous improvement included 
benchmarking our system with other 
companies to reconfirm it is world 
class. We also added further food 
quality and safety standards and 
increasing food safety requirements 
of suppliers for ingredients, packaging 

material and raw milk supply. We 
strengthened our compliance audit 
processes and improved our group 
regulatory standards framework to 
ensure consistent compliance with 
country of origin and importing 
country regulations.

The Fonterra Quality System 
spans the full global supply chain 
from milk sourcing to customer 
satisfaction and is supported by 
quality standards and quality reference 
documents, and performance and 
compliance measurement.

Food quality and safety are always a 
priority for Fonterra as a producer of 
consumer dairy products and dairy 
ingredients. We have a robust system, 
but we are the first to acknowledge it 
can always be made even stronger.

2014 Financial Year Performance 
Achievements
• 

 A full food safety and quality audit of 
all our manufacturing facilities in New 
Zealand and internationally is due for 
completion by the end of 2014. This 
audit builds on the annual Controlled 
Self Assessment (CSA) against the 
Fonterra Quality Standards. Once 
completed, a compliance score will be 
assigned to each site and to Fonterra 
as a whole. The CSA in the prior year 
achieved a score of 95 per cent.

• 

 Further supplier audits were 
undertaken through our Fonterra 
Approved Supplier Programme. The 
programme ensures we operate a 
robust and safe approval process for 
procured ingredients, packaging and 
third party-sourced dairy products. 

 
SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

2014 FINANCIAL YEAR KEY HEALTH AND SAFETY FOCUS AREAS

•  Zero fatal incidents and a reduction in serious harm injuries. Greater 
focus on the risk of fatalities and serious harm and increased targeted 
management around our highest critical risks. 

•  Reduction of harm overall Shift the focus from systems to leadership, 
care and engagement to reduce minor injuries and harm and to support 
improved wellbeing.

•  Engagement and Health and Wellbeing We have clarified and 

strengthened our vision and commitment in the areas of health and 
wellbeing. Associated with this we have developed a comprehensive 
wellbeing strategy and are connecting global health and wellbeing 
programmes with our overall people and business strategy.

Precautionary Recall
The all-clear after the precautionary 
recall followed a period of considerable 
concern for Fonterra, our customers and 
consumers regarding products made 
using WPC80. Our management internal 
review and an independent review 
commissioned by the Board examined 
the incident fully to identify what went 
wrong and to recommend actions. Both 
reports have been widely publicised.

The immediate actions, completed 
during late 2013, focused on operational 
improvements at plants, including 
a review of standards and product 
specifications, upgrading cleaning 
regimes and reviewing and updating 
the approach to non-standard testing. 
Specific food quality and safety 
requirements were included in new 
and senior level employment contracts 
from February 2014, with senior level 
performance agreements also reflecting 
these expectations. 

By the end of July 2014, the majority of 
short- to medium-term actions were 
completed, with a full global audit of 
all manufacturing facilities on track for 
completion by the end of 2014. Progress 
was acknowledged and commended 
by the Board’s Independent Inquiry 
Committee at its nine-month 
assessment in July 2014.

Governance and Risk Management
Fonterra has introduced the Fonterra 
Food Safety Risk Management 
Framework to complement the  
Fonterra Quality System. 

It is overseen by the Risk Committee 
established by the Board. While the 
Board had oversight of risk via the 
Audit, Finance and Risk Committee, 
having a separate committee has added 
weight to that oversight and created 
a specific governance link to risk 
management at Fonterra.

Fonterra’s Food Safety and Quality 
Council has been strengthened and 
has extended its mandate to provide 
long-term strategic direction of food 
safety, quality and regulatory affairs. 
The Council has oversight of the 
Risk Management Framework and 
the Food Safety Quality Strategic 
Plan, and provides governance 
across Fonterra. This includes the 
establishment and monitoring of 
group-wide quality measurements. 
The Food Safety Quality Council reports 
regularly to the Risk Committee.

Fonterra has also established a cross-
disciplinary Incident Management Team 
to manage events that could impact 
the health and safety of any of our 
stakeholders. It is structured to enable 
tight and rapid escalation, assessment 
and management of issues.

People make 
the difference 
and caring for our 
people is a key 
foundation to the 
way we operate.

DECREASE IN SERIOUS  
HARM INJURIES

63%

HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING
At Fonterra we believe that sustainable 
success can be achieved through our 
people. People make the difference and 
caring for our people is a key foundation 
to the way we operate. In the last few 
years we have made great progress 
in reducing harm and supporting our 
people’s health and wellbeing.

During the year we built upon 
previous programmes and success 
in order to support our mission 
that our people are healthy, live 
with balance, and go home from 
work safely every day.

Performance against focus areas
We made progress in reducing the events 
and injuries that have the most significant 
impact on our people. During the year 
we had no employee or contractor 
deaths and we achieved a 63 per cent 
decrease in serious harm injuries 
compared to the previous year. Serious 
harm injuries are those injuries that 
cause permanent or long-term harm.

50  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

TOTAL RECORDABLE INJURY FREQUENCY RATE

TRIFR (PER MILLION WORK HOURS)

25

20

15

10

5

0

23.7

18.2

14.3

12.7

8.8

9.8

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Fonterra employee, Tanya Venema, preparing for a run 
as part of the 10,000 Steps Challenge, a Corporate and 
Global Sales-wide Health, Safety and Wellbeing initiative.

During the year, 358 Fonterra employees 
were injured (requiring medical 
treatment, restricted work duties or 
time off work), which is a negative 
trend compared to the previous year. 
We define this number as our total 
recordable injuries (TRI). The increase in 
injuries shows a plateau in performance 
after seeing consecutive decreases since 
the 2009 financial year. 

Despite the number of higher TRIs, 
there was a significant reduction in 
the severity of injuries sustained. This 
change was reflected in a 10 per cent 
reduction in lost time injuries (LTI) and 
29 per cent fewer days off work for our 
LTIs compared to the previous year. 

Reducing the TRI number overall 
continues to be a focus. The TRI number 
drives the Total Recordable Injury 
Frequency Rate (TRIFR).

We continued to see improving scores 
on our Safe Home audits, which cover 
25 per cent of sites globally on an 
annual basis. They measure our 
performance against key critical risks 
as well as core health, safety and 
wellbeing practices (captured in our 
Core Safe Home Standard 1). 

Better Health, Better Safety,  
Better You is our new global 
communication platform. It is 
designed to bring all the elements of 
health, safety and wellbeing together, 
connecting our people on a personal 
level and enabling a sense of personal 
ownership. This new way of thinking 
was launched in November 2013 
and has been embedded into the 
business globally. 

REDUCTION IN SERIOUS HARM OF OUR PEOPLE AND CONTRACTORS 
FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR

80

60

40

20

0

60

2013

Employee

Contractor

22

2014

PEOPLE

HEALTH & 
WELLNESS

INJURY
MANAGEMENT

LEADERSHIP 
CULTURE &
ENGAGEMENT

CORE
STANDARDS

LIFE
SAVERS

PLANT &
EQUIPMENT

PROCUREMENT

DESIGN

CAPITAL 
DECISIONS

CRITICAL
RISK

SAFE HOME
AUDIT

PROCESS

Fonterra Life Savers has been 
introduced as a set of global behavioural 
expectations for our people, that bring 
focus to our highest critical risks. 
There are six behaviours which have 
been identified as having the greatest 
potential for reducing harm and raising 
our people’s awareness of the risks that 
they are faced with each day:

1.   Always work free of impairment  

from alcohol and drugs

2.   Always wear and use Personal 
Protective Equipment (PPE)

3.   Always drive safely

4.  Always work with a valid permit  

to work, where required

5.   Always operate equipment with 

guards and safety systems in place

6. Always follow access rules. 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

51

 
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE 

The Board and Management of Fonterra are committed 
to achieving the highest standard of corporate governance 
and leadership.

To support our role as a Board, we have developed governance 
systems that reflect Fonterra’s unique characteristics and 
requirements as a significant New Zealand based co-operative 
competing in the global dairy market.

GUIDELINE 1: LAY SOLID 
FOUNDATIONS FOR 
MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT
Our Board Charter
The Board Charter outlines the key 
values and practices of Fonterra and 
provides a reference point for the Board 
as a whole, and for individual directors, 
in the execution of their duties. The 
Charter is reviewed annually, as are the 
Committee Charters, and is available on 
fonterra.com. 

The roles and responsibilities of the 
Board as set out in the Board Charter 
include:

•  determining the Farmgate Milk Price 

and shareholder returns

•  review and approval of the Group 

strategy and business plans

•  appointment of the Chief Executive 
and reviewing the Chief Executive’s 
performance

•  delegation of authority to 

management and monitoring the 
exercise of that authority

•  engagement in the development of 
the strategic plan and setting the 
strategy for the Group and for the 
major business units within the Group

•  approval of significant acquisitions 

and disposals outside management’s 
delegated authorities

•  oversight of the Board Committees 
and the areas covered by each of 
those Committees

•  approval and reporting of the 

Group’s financial performance to 
shareholders.

THEO SPIERINGS 
CHIEF EXECUTIVE 

JOHN WILSON 
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD 

IAN BROWN 
SHAREHOLDERS’ COUNCIL CHAIRMAN

CHANGES TO THE  
FONTERRA BOARD
There was one change to the 
Fonterra Board during the 
financial year ending 31 July 
2014. Michael Spaans was 
elected as a Farmer Director 
in November 2013.

52 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

COMPLIANCE WITH BEST 
PRACTICE GOVERNANCE 
STANDARDS
The Fonterra Board’s governance 
framework takes into consideration 
contemporary standards in New 
Zealand and Australia, incorporating 
principles and guidelines issued by 
the Financial Markets Authority, the 
Corporate Governance Best Practice 
Code issued by NZX Limited (NZX) 
for the Fonterra Shareholders’ Market 
(FSM) and the ASX Limited (ASX) 
Corporate Governance Council 
Principles and Recommendations 
(ASX Principles). These are guidelines 
designed to maximise company 
performance and accountability in 
the interests of shareholders and the 
broader community.

Fonterra complies with the Fonterra 
Shareholders’ Market Corporate 
Governance Best Practice Code.

WE FOCUS ON GOVERNANCE IN A WAY THAT PROMOTES:

•  the interests of our farmer shareholders

•  Fonterra’s Co-operative philosophy, which is largely expressed through our Co-operative Principles

•  transparency, giving our farmer shareholders, Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund (FSF) unitholders 

and other stakeholders the information they need to assess our performance

•  effective risk management to ensure that Fonterra meets its business objectives and all legal 

requirements

•  a good balance between the roles and functions of the Board and Management

•  communication with important stakeholder groups, including farmer shareholders, employees, 
customers, unitholders, debt investors, governments and the communities Fonterra works in.

The performance of senior executives 
is evaluated using the same principles 
that are applied to the performance 
assessment of other managers and 
people leaders in Fonterra. 

There is a performance framework 
agreed with the Fonterra Management 
Team that includes key principles of:

•  clarity and prioritisation of objectives

•  agreement of expectations

•  managing performance with respect 

to clear milestones

•  ‘how’ as well as ‘what’ – Fonterra’s 
values guiding everyday behaviours

•  ensuring sustainable growth 
in capability and performance

•  ongoing feedback, coaching 

and review.

New executives are introduced into 
the business using a robust induction 
programme with clearly defined 
expectations and timescales tailored 
to their specific role, covering areas 
such as team leadership, stakeholder 
management and operational 
expectations relevant to their position.

GUIDELINE 2: STRUCTURE THE 
BOARD TO ADD VALUE
Our Board
The Constitution of Fonterra provides 
for not more than 13 directors and sets 
out how they are appointed.

In accordance with the Constitution, 
not more than nine directors are 
elected by farmer shareholders from 
the shareholder base, and not more 
than four directors are appointed by the 
Board. The People, Culture and Safety 
Committee oversees the process for 
identifying and recommending potential 
appointees, and makes appropriate 
recommendations to the Board. The 
Board of the Fonterra Shareholders’ 
Fund is also consulted in relation to the 
appointment of Appointed Directors.

The Appointed Directors are selected 
to enable the Board to access a full 
complement of skills and competencies 
needed to lead an enterprise of 
Fonterra’s size, sophistication and 
complexity. They bring to the Board 
perspectives and experience to 
augment the direct industry knowledge 
and other expertise provided by the 
Elected Directors.

Elected Directors must be qualified 
as shareholders under section 12.3 of 
the Constitution and are therefore not 
considered Independent Directors. 

Director independence
The rules of the Fonterra Shareholders’ 
Market require Fonterra to have a 
minimum of two Independent Directors. 

In order to be an Independent Director, 
a director must not be an executive 
officer of Fonterra, or have a 
‘disqualifying relationship’.

A director has a disqualifying 
relationship where he or she has a direct 
or indirect interest or relationship that 
could reasonably influence, in a material 
way, the director’s decisions in relation 
to Fonterra. The FSM Rules contain 
specific examples of what may give rise 
to a disqualifying relationship. Appointed 
Directors cannot be shareholders and 
are expected to maintain independence 
for the length of their term.

At 31 July 2014, Simon Israel, David 
Jackson, Sir Ralph Norris and John Waller 
each did not have (and continue not to 
have) any disqualifying relationship in 
relation to Fonterra and are therefore 
Independent Directors. 

The Board has determined that Simon 
Israel, David Jackson, Sir Ralph Norris 
and John Waller (being the directors 
appointed by the Board in accordance 
with Fonterra’s Constitution) are 
Independent Directors under the FSM 
Rules as at 31 July 2014.

John Wilson, who is an Elected Director, 
is the Board-elected Chairperson. 
Following good governance, the 
Chairperson and Chief Executive roles 
at Fonterra are not exercised by the 
same individual.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

53

 
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE 

CONTINUED

GUIDELINE 3: PROMOTE 
ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE 
DECISION-MAKING
Ethics framework
The Board is committed to maintaining 
high ethical standards across the Group, 
in all aspects of the business in all 
parts of the world. Fonterra’s Code of 
Business Conduct – The Way We Work 
– provides practical guidelines on how 
to apply Fonterra’s values in everyday 
work situations and when working with 
customers, shareholders, suppliers and 
the wider community. 

This document is available in several 
languages, to facilitate its accessibility 
to Fonterra’s global employee base.

The Way We Work has been written 
in simple, straightforward language. 
An independently run telephone, 
e-mail and web-based hotline provides 
individuals with a confidential channel 
to raise difficult ethical issues. In the 
2014 financial year, 33 calls were raised 
globally with the hotline. 

All were fully investigated and 
appropriate action taken, including 
managing issues through other HR 
processes.

Directors are expected to keep 
themselves abreast of changes and 
trends in the business and in Fonterra’s 
environment and markets, and trends 
in the economic, political, social and 
legal climate generally. Directors are 
also expected to keep up to date with 
governance issues.

Nomination Committee
The People, Culture and Safety 
Committee oversees the process for 
appointments to the Board. To the 
extent the Board is responsible for 
appointing directors, the People, Culture 
and Safety Committee satisfies the role 
of a nomination committee.

Performance assessment
Directors formally assess the 
performance of the Board as a whole 
each year. A regular programme of 
peer review of individual directors 
also occurs. The Shareholders’ Council 
reviews the Board’s Statement of 
Intentions against the performance and 
operation of the Group and reports on 
this to shareholders annually. The Board 
is responsible for reviewing the Chief 
Executive’s performance.

Independent professional advice
Any director of the Board is entitled to 
seek independent professional advice 
relating to the affairs of Fonterra or 
to his or her other responsibilities 
as a director. Fonterra will pay the 
reasonable cost of independent 
professional advice.

Board meetings
The Board meets formally at least seven 
times a year and has regular and ad hoc 
teleconferences to ensure the Board is 
kept informed, and to deal with specific 
issues as they arise. Between full Board 
meetings, the Board uses committees 
to advance its work programme and to 
enhance the efficiency and effectiveness 
of its decision making.

Information for the Board
It is important that all members of the 
Board are appropriately informed of the 
Group’s activities. 

Directors are supplied with detailed 
monthly performance reports and 
analysis in advance of all Board meetings, 
together with papers on any significant 
commercial initiatives, and information 
on the Group’s competitive position 
and general economic indicators.

The directors also make a point of 
meeting away from head office on a 
semi-regular basis so that they can 
broaden their understanding of the 
business through direct contact with 
managers and customers. Directors 
also regularly visit key markets to 
gain a better understanding of the 
global dairy market.

Director training
Following appointment to the Board, 
directors undertake an induction 
programme to familiarise themselves 
with the Group. Areas covered include:

•  business strategy and planning

•  an overview of key financial metrics to 

monitor business performance

•  an overview of material areas of the 
Fonterra business, including through 
meetings with key executives

•  the Fonterra Constitution and other 

governance systems.

54  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

BOARD COMMITTEES

COMMITTEE OR GROUP

MEMBERSHIP AS AT 31 JULY 2014

PURPOSE

Audit and Finance 
Committee (AFC)

People, Culture  
and Safety  
Committee (PCS)

Co-operative Relations 
Committee (CRC)

Risk Committee (RC)

David Jackson (Chair)
David MacLeod
Ian Farrelly

John Wilson (Chair)
David Jackson (observer)
Ian Farrelly
John Monaghan

John Monaghan (Chair)
Ian (Blue) Read
Michael Spaans
Malcolm Bailey

Malcolm Bailey (Chair)
David Jackson
John Monaghan

John Waller
Nicola Shadbolt
Sir Ralph Norris

Simon Israel
Sir Ralph Norris

David MacLeod

Jim van der Poel
John Waller

To assist the Board in fulfilling its governance responsibilities in 
relation to Fonterra’s financial reporting, audit activities, treasury 
matters, financial risk management and internal control frameworks.

To assist the Board in fulfilling its governance responsibilities 
in relation to the recruitment, retention, remuneration and 
development of directors, executives and other employees, and to 
promote a safe and healthy working environment.

To assist the Board in fulfilling its governance responsibilities 
in relation to the supply of milk from Fonterra suppliers, and to 
seek to resolve supplier complaints before reference to the Milk 
Commissioner.

To assist the Board in fulfilling its corporate governance 
responsibilities relating to Fonterra’s management of key enterprise 
wide risks. This includes strategic and operational risks, through 
Fonterra’s enterprise-wide risk management framework, the 
behaviours required of its people and its guidelines, policies and 
processes for monitoring and mitigating enterprise-wide risks.

BOARD AND COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE

John Wilson

Malcolm Bailey

Ian Farrelly

Simon Israel

David Jackson

David MacLeod

John Monaghan

Sir Ralph Norris

Blue Read

Nicola Shadbolt

Jim van der Poel

John Waller

Michael Spaans (elected 27 November 2013 – 9 meetings)

Total Meetings

BOARD

REGULAR

SPECIAL

12/12

12/12

12/12

12/12

12/12

12/12

12/12

12/12

11/12

12/12

12/12

12/12

9/12

12

10/10

8/10

10/10

7/10

8/10

9/10

8/10

10/10

10/10

10/10

10/10

7/10

2/10

10

AFC

–

2/6

5/6

–

6/6

5/6

–

3/6

–

4/6

–

5/6

–

6

PCS

7/7

–

7/7

6/7

7/7

–

7/7

7/7

–

–

–

–

–

7

CRC

–

5/5

–

–

–

2/5

5/5

–

5/5

2/5

2/5

–

2/5

5

RC

–

4/4

–

–

4/4

–

3/4

–

–

–

4/4

4/4

–

4

Committee membership was reviewed when the Risk Committee was established and memberships changed. Directors’ 
attendances may reflect serving on committees for only part of the year.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

55

 
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE 

CONTINUED

Securities Trading Policy
Fonterra has adopted a Securities 
Trading Policy that details the rules 
for trading in units and/or shares. The 
policy applies to directors, officers, 
employees and contractors of Fonterra 
and members of the Shareholders’ 
Council and Milk Price Panel, and is 
additional to legal prohibitions on 
insider trading in New Zealand and 
Australia. All directors comply with the 
legislative requirements for disclosing 
interests and with the Securities Trading 
Policy, which regulates both directors 
and management in their personal 
dealings with Fonterra securities and 
those of related companies.

GUIDELINE 4: SAFEGUARD 
INTEGRITY IN FINANCIAL 
REPORTING
Audit and Finance Committee
There is an established Audit and Finance 
Committee (AFC) as described above. 

The AFC comprises three Appointed 
Directors and three Elected Directors. 
The committee is chaired by David 
Jackson, who is an Independent 
Director. The auditor is appointed by the 
shareholders at the Annual Meeting. 

Fonterra encourages the rotation 
of the lead external audit partner in 
the relationship in accordance with 
best practice. Fonterra has a Group 
Audit Independence Policy, for certain 
activities the auditor may undertake for 
the Group. This policy is prescriptive as 
to the types of activities that the auditor 
may undertake, those the auditor may 
only undertake with the approval of the 
AFC, and the types of activities that are 
not permitted. The AFC will not approve 
the auditor performing any tasks that 
have the potential to create a conflict 
except in exceptional circumstances 
and then only if appropriate safeguards 
are in place.

Diversity and Inclusion Policy
The Fonterra Board has recently 
approved an updated Group People 
Management Policy that encompasses 
the Diversity and Inclusion Policy 
requirements. Fonterra is committed 
to creating and maintaining an 
environment where people with 
diverse experiences and ways of 
thinking are encouraged and enabled. 
Fonterra recognises that diversity is 
not solely a matter of compliance; 
it means respecting differences and 
making those differences count. The 
Group People Management Policy 
requires that all policies, standards 
and guidelines support the intent 
of diversity and inclusion. Fonterra 
proactively identifies and maximises 
local talent pools to improve 
participation. This includes increasing 
gender ratios in leadership, and access 
for people with disabilities, and those 
representing different cultures 
and ethnicities. 

As at 31 July 2014, the gender 
composition of the Board comprised 
12 male directors and one female 
director (2013: 1 of 12). The nine 
Elected Directors on the Fonterra 
Board are elected by postal ballot of 
the shareholders conducted by the 
Shareholders’ Council, and the four 
Appointed Directors are appointed 
by the Board and ratified by farmer 
shareholders. Of 12 officers who 
reported directly to the Chief Executive 
at the Balance Date, three were female 
(2013: 2 of 12).

56  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

Milk Price Panel
The Board has created the Milk Price 
Panel for the purpose of providing 
assurances as to the governance of the 
Farmgate Milk Price and the proper 
application of the Farmgate Milk Price 
Manual and the Milk Price Principles.

The Panel does not determine the 
Farmgate Milk Price, as this is a decision 
for the Board.

The Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 
2001 (New Zealand) requires that the 
Chair and a majority of the members 
of the Panel (including the Chair) are 
independent. The Panel consists of 
two Appointed Directors, one Elected 
Director and two appropriately qualified 
persons nominated by the Shareholders’ 
Council, at least one of whom must be 
independent. The Chair must be one 
of the Appointed Director members. 
The Panel is currently chaired by 
John Waller. Other Board members 
are David Jackson and Michael Spaans. 
The Shareholders’ Council appointees 
are Richard Punter and Patrick Boyle. 
Richard Punter retires by rotation at the 
end of September 2014 and is replaced 
by Bill Donaldson. The Board confirms 
that at Balance Date, John Waller, David 
Jackson, Richard Punter and Patrick 
Boyle are considered to be Independent 
Members of this panel.

 
GUIDELINE 5: MAKE TIMELY AND 
BALANCED DISCLOSURE
Continuous disclosure
In order to affirm Fonterra’s 
commitment to promoting a well 
informed and efficient market, Fonterra 
has a Group Disclosure Policy. Ongoing 
education programmes are run within 
Fonterra to ensure staff are aware of 
Fonterra’s obligations as an equity issuer. 

The policy applies to all directors and 
officers of Fonterra and its subsidiaries, 
all Shareholders’ Councillors, the 
members of the Milk Price Panel and 
all employees (including contractors, 
consultants, advisers and secondees). 

The objectives of the policy are to 
ensure Fonterra continues to provide 
timely and accurate information 
and fully comply with the Fonterra 
Shareholders’ Market, NZX and ASX 
continuous disclosure regimes and with 
the Securities Markets Act (1988) and 
applicable market rules. 

Fonterra and the Manager of the 
Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund have 
entered into an arrangement to co-
operate with each other and take all 
steps reasonably required to ensure that 
information to be disclosed by either 
of them under the listing rules of the 
FSM, the NZSX or the ASX (as the case 
may be) is disclosed simultaneously 
to the Fonterra Shareholders’ Market, 
the NZX Main Board and ASX. It is 
intended that where NZX, as market 
operator of the Fonterra Shareholders’ 
Market, receives information provided 
by Fonterra for release under the 
Fonterra Shareholders’ Market, 
NZX will simultaneously release the 
information under the code relating to 
the Fund. This process is intended to 
be automatic. Fonterra simultaneously 
discloses relevant information on ASX.

In June 2014, the NZ Markets 
Disciplinary Tribunal approved a 
settlement agreement between NZX 
and Fonterra in respect of FSM Rule 
9.1.1. NZX Regulation considered that 
Fonterra breached Rule 9.1.1 by failing 
to release Material Information to NZX 
on concerns that some of Fonterra’s 
WPC80 product may have been 
contaminated with clostridium capable 
of causing botulism, immediately 
after coming into possession of that 
information. While Fonterra did not 
accept NZX Regulation’s view, Fonterra 
did acknowledge that view and agreed 
to make a payment of $150,000 to the 
NZX Discipline Fund and pay the costs 
of the Tribunal. 

Since the events regarding the WPC80 
precautionary recall, Fonterra has 
taken significant steps to enhance 
and improve governance and 
communications around emerging 
issues to ensure compliance with 
continuous disclosure obligations. 
These include:

•  Establishing a permanent, multi-
disciplinary group Incident 
Management Team (IMT), whose 
role is to assess emerging issues for 
their potential to develop into critical 
incidents, and in such scenarios, 
address, among other matters, 
stakeholder engagement. One of 
the key functions of the IMT is to 
ensure that information in relation 
to critical incidents is escalated 
promptly to ensure all regulatory 
and other requirements are analysed 
and met appropriately. This team 
works seamlessly with Fonterra’s 
Disclosure Committee. 

•  Ensuring that senior management’s 
employment contracts include an 
express commitment to meeting 
all applicable Fonterra policies and 
standards in relation to disclosure 
of material information and escalation 
of issues. 

•  Instigating detailed e-learning 

modules (and testing) for employees 
in relation to all policies and standards 
including Fonterra’s disclosure 
policy and standards. Compliance is 
monitored through the Office of the 
Chief Financial Officer. 

GUIDELINE 6: RESPECT THE 
RIGHTS OF SHAREHOLDERS
Shareholders’ Council
One of the Board’s most important 
relationships is with the Shareholders’ 
Council. The Council, which is 
established under the Fonterra 
Constitution, is independent of the 
Board and comprises 37 shareholder-
elected councillors, representing 35 
wards. The functions of the Council 
are set out in the Constitution. The 
Council reviews the Board’s statement 
of intentions for the performance and 
operations of the Group and publishes 
an Annual Report, commenting on 
these matters. The Council and the 
Board meet regularly, as do the Chairs 
of the Board and the Council and the 
Chairs of their respective Committees.

Farmer communications
Fonterra is committed to maintaining 
and improving dialogue with our 
shareholder base to ensure that the 
objectives of both the Group and 
the shareholders are understood. 
An extensive farmer shareholder 
and supplier relations programme 
is managed by the Group Director 
Co-operative Affairs. Channels for 
electronic communication are 
provided through the fonterra.com 
and Fencepost websites.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

57

 
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE 

CONTINUED

Fonterra’s communications with farmer 
shareholders include Sky Broadcasts, a 
regular Global Dairy Update, Farmlink 
and a regular Chairman’s email. As 
described above, Fonterra releases 
to the relevant stock exchanges 
all shareholder-related material 
information, and will comply with the 
Fonterra Shareholders’ Market, NZX 
and ASX Listing Rules with respect to 
shareholder communications.

Farmer meetings
A schedule of regular meetings with 
shareholders and suppliers is held 
across the country at least twice each 
year. Often these are run in conjunction 
with the Shareholders’ Council, 
Area Managers and the Fonterra 
Farmer Network.

As well, directors attend other 
farmer meetings during the year on 
specific topics.

In addition, the Board consults with 
shareholders on specific issues as 
they arise.

Fonterra.com and Fencepost
Presentations on the development 
of the business are available on the 
fonterra.com website. The Group also 
uses email alerts, including regular 
updates from the Chairman and regular 
shareholder updates.

The Fencepost website enables Fonterra 
shareholders, their employees and 
business partners to transact online 
with Fonterra and access information 
and tools on milk production and 
quality, online statements and up-to-

the-minute news and weather. This site 
is also used to provide information on 
the business to farmer shareholders.

Annual Meeting
The Board views the Annual Meeting of 
shareholders, which is held at a different 
venue around New Zealand each year, 
as an opportunity to communicate 
directly with shareholders and ensures 
that adequate time is provided at these 
meetings for shareholders to raise 
issues or ask questions from the floor. 

Notices of meetings will be sent to 
shareholders at least 10 working days 
before the meeting.

The Constitution describes the process 
whereby a shareholder can raise a 
proposal for discussion or resolution 
at the next meeting of shareholders at 
which the shareholder is entitled to vote.

Annual Report
The Group’s Annual Report including 
financial statements and Annual Review, 
together with the half-year reports and 
other material announcements, are 
designed to present a balanced and clear 
view of Fonterra’s activities and prospects 
and are available on fonterra.com.

Other disclosures
Information on the Group’s 
performance and the expected Cash 
Payout, annual and half-year financial 
results, director changes, and other 
significant matters, is advised to the 
market through the NZX and ASX in 
accordance with the Disclosure Policy. 
Shareholders and other stakeholders 
receive regular updates on these and 
other issues relevant to them.

GUIDELINE 7: RECOGNISE AND 
MANAGE RISK
Risk management
In early 2014, the Fonterra Board 
established a Risk Committee, as 
described on page 55. Previously 
enterprise-wide risk management 
had been overseen by the Audit, 
Finance and Risk Committee. With the 
advent of the Risk Committee, the risk 
management scope of the Audit and 
Finance Committee was amended to 
financial risk management. The Risk 
Committee covers all other aspects of 
risk including ensuring a strong risk 
management culture in Fonterra. 

The Risk Committee comprises two 
Appointed Directors and three Elected 
Directors. The Committee is chaired 
by Malcolm Bailey, who is an Elected 
Director. It is a requirement that the 
Chairman of the Audit and Finance 
Committee is also a member of the 
Risk Committee. 

Fonterra has a global Risk Management 
Policy, the purpose of which is to embed 
an enterprise-wide risk management 
capability within Fonterra to provide a 
consistent method for the identification, 
assessment, control, monitoring 
and reporting of risks faced by the 
organisation. The policy recognises 
that risk represents both opportunity 
and threat and that risk is an integral 
part of business.

Fonterra’s tolerance for risk is defined 
in the Risk Management Framework 
which requires the reporting of material 
risks as appropriate to the Fonterra 
Management Team, the Risk Committee 
and the Board.

58 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

Fonterra’s Internal Audit function is 
accountable for formally reviewing 
the effectiveness of the Group’s risk 
management processes, including using 
the outputs of risk assessments to 
compile its audit plan and performing 
independent validation of the control 
environment.

GUIDELINE 8: REMUNERATE 
FAIRLY AND RESPONSIBLY
Remuneration of Directors
The Constitution modifies the discretion 
of the Board to set remuneration 
of directors. In accordance with 
the Constitution, shareholders 
elect an independent committee 
of six shareholders to consider and 
make recommendations to the 
Annual Meeting on Elected Director 
remuneration.

The members of the Directors’ 
Remuneration Committee are Rodney 
Wilson (Chair), David Gasquoine, 
Murray Holdaway, Scott Montgomerie, 
Philip Wilson and Gerard Wolvers.

The Board has full discretion over the 
remuneration of Appointed Directors.

Fonterra’s Risk Management Policy 
was reviewed by the Board in 2014 
and is aligned with the ISO31000 Risk 
Management Standard. The Policy is 
supported by a detailed Group Risk 
Management Standard and Guidelines 
that define the mandatory requirements 
relating to risk management for 
businesses. The Risk Management Policy 
provides a consistent methodology and 
approach for the execution of these 
mandatory requirements by specifying 
processes for:

•  identifying existing and potential 

risks that may impact upon business 
objectives

•  assessing the consequence and 
likelihood of risks identified

•  identifying key controls in place to 

address risks

•  evaluating the design and operating 

effectiveness of controls in mitigating 
risks to an acceptable level

•  generating action plans to improve 

controls where required

•  regularly monitoring risks and 

tracking progress against action plans.

Risk reporting to the Board for review 
occurs on a regular basis. This includes 
Fonterra’s Top 20 risks, and changes 
in risks and emerging risk areas. This 
process is supported by a formal 
annual evaluation of the top risks by 
all material business units along with 
a six-monthly review and update of 
this risk assessment material. The six-
monthly review process also includes 
Management’s self-assessment of the 
effectiveness of key controls relied upon 
to manage the top risks. A summary 
of the results of this assessment is 
reported to Risk Committee. 

OTHER GOVERNANCE 
BEST PRACTICES
The Board has also reviewed compliance 
with the Principles for Corporate 
Governance issued by the Financial 
Markets Authority. While the Board 
believes it complies with the Principles, 
there are two points of divergence from 
specific guidelines.

•  Audit Committee membership 
(Guideline 3.4). The majority of 
members are not independent, due 
to the proportion of farmer Elected 
Directors on the Board.

•  Management representation 

(Guideline 4.4). The Chief Executive 
and Chief Financial Officer do not 
certify in the published accounts their 
compliance with generally accepted 
accounting practice in New Zealand. 
The Board is directly and legally 
responsible for these documents and 
obtains all relevant assurances from 
management or other parties.

FSM Waivers
There have been no FSM Waivers 
granted.

Exercise of NZX Disciplinary Powers
NZX did not exercise its powers under 
FSM Rule 4.2.2 to halt or suspend the 
quotation of Fonterra’s shares during the 
financial year.

An agreement was reached between 
Fonterra and NZ Markets Disciplinary 
Tribunal on 5 June 2014 in relation to an 
allegation that Fonterra failed to disclose 
information relating to a suspected 
contamination of some of Fonterra’s 
product. Please refer to Guideline 5 for 
more information in relation to the steps 
Fonterra has put in place in response to 
these events.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

59

 
BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

BOARD OF 
DIRECTORS

1. JOHN WILSON
B. Agr.Sc
John Wilson joined the Fonterra Board in 2003 as a 
farmer-elected Director and became Chairman in 
2012. He is Chairman of the People, Culture and Safety 
Committee and served as the inaugural Chairman of 
the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council. He is director of 
Turners & Growers Limited and is a chartered member 
of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. John lives 
on his dairy farm near Te Awamutu and jointly 
owns a dairy farming business based near Geraldine, 
South Canterbury. He is on the Executive Board of 
the New Zealand China Council.

2. MALCOLM BAILEY
B. Agr. Econ 
Malcolm Bailey was elected to the Fonterra Board in 
2004. He is Chairman of the Risk Committee and sits 
on the Co-operative Relations Committee. Malcolm 
also represents Fonterra on the Dairy Companies 
Association of New Zealand, and is a member of 
the International Food and Agricultural Trade Policy 
Council. He is a director of Westpac New Zealand 
Limited, Hopkins Farming Group Limited, Gleneig 
Holdings Limited and Agrico Holdings Limited. He 
is also the Independent Chair of the Red Meat Profit 
Partnership. Malcolm’s dairy farming interests are as 
a shareholder in Hopkins Farming Group Limited.

3. IAN FARRELLY
B. Agr. 
Ian Farrelly was elected to the Fonterra Board in 
2007. He serves on the Audit and Finance Committee 
and the People, Culture and Safety Committee 
and represents the Board on the Governance 
Development Programme. Ian had a 20-year career 
in the banking industry including 15 years as head 
of ASB’s Rural Division. Ian is also a director of First 
Mortgage Managers Limited, Spectrum Dairies 
Limited, Fortuna Group Limited and is an Advisor 
to Waikato Stud. He owns and runs a 400-hectare 
10,000 animal calf rearing farm in Te Awamutu, 
owns a 700 cow dairy farm in the Waikato and has 
ownership interests in dairy farms in Canterbury.

4. SIMON ISRAEL
Diploma of Business Studies
Simon Israel was appointed to the Board in 2013 
as an Appointed Director. Simon currently chairs 
Singapore Telecommunications Limited and is a 
Director of CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest real 
estate companies. He was an Executive Director of 
Temasek Holdings for six years and President from 
2010 to 2011. Simon was a director of Fraser & Neave, 
Neptune Orient Lines, Asia Pacific Breweries, Griffin 
Foods and Frucor Beverage Group. He had 10 years’ 
experience in the dairy industry with Danone as a 
Senior Vice President and member of the Group 
Executive Committee. He was conferred Knight in the 
Legion of Honour by the French Government in 2007.

5. DAVID JACKSON
M.Com (Hons), FCA, FInstD
David Jackson joined the Fonterra Board in September 
2007 as an Appointed Director. David is Chairman of 
the Audit and Finance Committee and serves on the 
Milk Price Panel and the Risk Committee. David also 
serves on the boards of Nuplex Industries Limited and 
Mitre 10 (New Zealand) Limited and is Chairman of 
The New Zealand Refining Company Limited. David 
spent more than 30 years with accounting firm Ernst 
& Young in a variety of roles, and served as Chairman 
of the board of management for the firm in New 
Zealand from 1999 to 2002. David is a Fellow of the 
New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants.

6. DAVID MACLEOD
David MacLeod was elected to the Fonterra Board 
in 2011 and is a member of the Audit and Finance 
Committee and the Co-operative Relations 
Committee. David also serves on the boards of Port 
Taranaki Limited and A.J. Greaves Electrical Limited. 
He is Chairman of the Taranaki Regional Council. 
David lives near Hawera in South Taranaki and is a 
director of P.K.W. Farms GP Limited, one of Fonterra’s 
largest shareholders, and is a shareholder of Far South 
Farms Limited, which owns a dairy farm in Southland.

4

5

6

7

1.  JOHN WILSON
2.  MALCOLM BAILEY
3.  IAN FARRELLY
4.  SIMON ISRAEL
5.  DAVID JACKSON
6.  DAVID MACLEOD
7.  JOHN MONAGHAN
8.  SIR RALPH NORRIS KNZM
9.  BLUE READ
10. NICOLA SHADBOLT
11.  MICHAEL SPAANS 
12.  JIM VAN DER POEL
13.  JOHN WALLER

1

2

3

60  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

7. JOHN MONAGHAN
John Monaghan was elected to the Fonterra Board in 
2008 and is Chairman of the Co-operative Relations 
Committee and serves on the People, Culture and 
Safety Committee and the Risk Committee. Prior to 
joining the Board John was Chairman of the Fonterra 
Shareholders’ Council for a three-year period. He is 
also a director of Centre Port Limited and Centre Port 
Properties Limited, and is a trustee of the Wairarapa 
Irrigation Trust and the Eketahuna Charitable Trust. 
John has dairy farming interests in the Wairarapa, 
Canterbury and Otago regions and beef farming 
interests in the Wairarapa.

8. SIR RALPH NORRIS KNZM
FNZIM, FNZCS
Sir Ralph Norris joined the Fonterra Board in 2012 as 
an Appointed Director. He sits on the People, Culture 
and Safety Committee and the Audit and Finance 
Committee. Sir Ralph also serves on the boards of the 
Manager of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund, Origin 
Energy Limited and Fletcher Building Limited (where 
he is the Chairman-elect) and is a member of the 
University of Auckland Council and the New Zealand 
Treasury Advisory Board. He was Chief Executive of 
the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for six years 
until 2011 and prior to that served as Chief Executive 
and Managing Director of Air New Zealand Limited 
from 2002 to 2005. Sir Ralph had a 40-year career 
in banking and served as the Managing Director 
and Chief Executive of ASB Bank Limited from 1991 
to 2001. Sir Ralph was made a Knight Companion 
of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009 and a 
Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order 
of Merit for services to business in 2006. In 2012, 
he had conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate of 
Business by the University of New South Wales.

9. BLUE READ
Blue Read was elected to the Board in 2012. He sits 
on the Co-operative Relations Committee and he 
led a Water Policy Project Team reporting through to 
the Co-operative Relations Committee. Blue was the 
Chairman of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Council from 
2007 to 2010, having been a Shareholders’ Councillor 
since 2001 and Deputy Chairman from 2003 to 2007. 
Blue has previously been Chairman of Cooperative 
Business New Zealand, Taranaki Dairy Section of 
Federated Farmers and Chairman of the New Zealand 
Sharemilkers Association. Blue has interests in two 
dairy equity partnerships in the lower Waikato, and he 
lives and farms near Urenui in Northern Taranaki.

10. NICOLA SHADBOLT
BSc(Hons), MAgrSc(Hons), DipBusStud (Accountancy), 
FNZIPIM(Reg)
Nicola Shadbolt was elected to the Fonterra Board 
in 2009 and serves on the Audit and Finance 
Committee. Nicola is a Professor of Farm and 
Agribusiness Management at Massey University, 
Director of the Centre of Excellence in Farm Business 
Management, a Director of the International Food 
and Agribusiness Management Association, and 
represents New Zealand in the International Farm 
Comparison Network in Dairying. Nicola and 
her husband live in the Pohangina Valley in the 
Manawatu, which is the base for the five farming and 
forestry equity partnerships they run, which include 
two dairy farms.

11. MICHAEL SPAANS
Graduate Diploma Finance
Elected to the Board in 2013, Michael Spaans serves 
on the Milk Price Panel and Co-operative Relations 
Committee. He was a member of the Fonterra 
Shareholders’ Council since its formation in 2001 until 
2008. Michael is Chairman of Waikato Innovation 
Park, a director of DairyNZ, is a director and 
shareholder of Manuka SA (Chile) which supplies milk 
to Fonterra’s subsidiary Soprole SA and is a director 
of Shoof International Limited. Michael’s family farm 
is in the Waikato near Te Aroha where he milks a 
500-cow herd.

12. JIM VAN DER POEL
Jim van der Poel was elected to the Fonterra Board 
in 2002 and had previously served on the Board 
of the New Zealand Dairy Group. He serves on the 
Risk Committee and has Board responsibility for 
International Farming. Jim is also a director of the 
Manager of Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund. Jim has 
won a number of industry awards including the 
AC Cameron Memorial Award, 2002 New Zealand 
Nuffield Farming Scholarship, Sharemilker of the Year 
and the Dairy Exporter Primary Performer Award. Jim 
and his wife Sue live at Ngahinapouri in the Waikato 
and have farming interests in Waikato, Canterbury 
and the United States.

13. JOHN WALLER
BCom, FCA
John Waller joined the Fonterra Board in February 
2009 as an Appointed Director. John is Chairman of 
the Milk Price Panel and is also a member of the Audit 
and Finance Committee and the Risk Committee. 
He is Chairman of the Bank of New Zealand and 
is a director of National Australia Bank Limited, 
BNZ Investments Limited, Haydn & Rollett Limited, 
National Equities Limited, Alliance Group Limited, 
Sky Network Television Limited, Property For Industry 
Limited and Donaghys Limited. John was a partner 
at PricewaterhouseCoopers for more than 20 years. 
He was also a member of their board and led their 
advisory practice for many years.

8

9

10

11

12

13

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

61

 
MANAGEMENT TEAM FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

FONTERRA 
MANAGEMENT 
TEAM

1.  THEO SPIERINGS
2.  LUKAS PARAVICINI
3.  JACQUELINE CHOW
4.  PASCAL DE PETRINI
5.  MAURY LEYLAND
6.  JOHAN PRIEM
7.  ROBERT SPURWAY
8.  ALEX TURNBULL
9.  KELVIN WICKHAM

1. THEO SPIERINGS
Chief Executive
Theo Spierings sets Fonterra’s overall direction 
and leads the Fonterra Management team. He is 
focused on building on Fonterra’s strengths and 
securing future growth for the Co-operative. Theo 
joined Fonterra in 2011, bringing with him extensive 
experience from across the dairy industry, particularly 
in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. 
Theo has 25 years’ experience in the global dairy 
industry in a variety of roles including general 
management, operations and supply chain, and 
sales and marketing positions. He was previously 
the acting CEO of Royal Friesland Foods, a Dutch 
dairy co-operative and, in 2008, led the Dutch dairy 
co-operative through a merger with Campina. Before 
taking up his leadership role at Fonterra, Theo ran 
his own company in the Netherlands focusing on 
corporate strategy, and mergers and acquisitions, in 
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Theo has a 
Bachelor of Arts in Food Technology/Biotechnology 
and a Master of Business Administration.

2. LUKAS PARAVICINI
Chief Financial Officer
Lukas Paravicini joined Fonterra as CFO in 2013 
after 22 years with Nestlé. Most recently Lukas was 
General Manager for Nestlé Professional Europe. 
Before this role he held a number of senior finance 
positions including CFO of Nestlé Brazil, Nestlé’s 
fourth largest market, Vice President of Global 
Business Services and CFO of Nestlé Professional, 
and Nestlé’s globally managed Out-of-Home 
business. He has an in-depth understanding 
of dairy and has lived and worked in some of 
Fonterra’s most strategically important markets. 
Lukas holds a Business and Administration degree 
from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, 
and speaks five languages.

3. JACQUELINE CHOW
Managing Director Global Brands and Nutrition
As Managing Director Fonterra Global Brands and 
Nutrition, Jacqueline Chow is responsible for Fonterra 
Group’s customer and consumer brands portfolio. 
Her remit includes global strategic leadership for the 
Co-operative’s nutritional platforms ensuring group-
wide alignment on strategies, brands, marketing and 
innovation for Fonterra products. She has executive 
leadership for the company’s Food Safety and 
Quality agenda, Fonterra brand stewardship, global 
planning and insights, research and development, 
and science and technology. Prior to joining Fonterra 
in 2013, Jacqueline was Australia and New Zealand 
General Manager for Arnott’s, one of Asia Pacific’s 
largest food companies. She has also held executive 
marketing and innovation roles at Campbell’s and 
the Kellogg Company. She has extensive FMCG and 
marketing experience garnered from a 20-year career 
in global blue-chip multinationals. Jacqueline holds 
a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) and an 
MBA in International Business Strategy and Finance. 
She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of 
Company Directors.

1

2

3

62  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

4. PASCAL DE PETRINI
Managing Director Asia Pacific, Middle East 
and Africa (APMEA)
Pascal de Petrini joined Fonterra in 2013 as Managing 
Director of Asia Pacific, Middle East And Africa 
(APMEA) following a 30-year career in Europe and 
Asia Pacific. Pascal has a proven track record as 
a strategic people leader and an ability to deliver 
significant growth as well as turnarounds in FMCG. 
His experience will greatly benefit Fonterra’s 
consumer, nutritional and foodservice growth 
strategy in Asia. He has top-tier FMCG credentials 
from a 27-year career with Danone, where he spent 
four years leadings its baby nutrition unit in Asia.
He also headed up their Water Business in Indonesia 
and was General Manager in China for the Biscuits 
Business. Prior to joining Fonterra Pascal was the 
Chief Executive Officer of Food and Beverages at 
Fraser and Neave Limited. Pascal holds a Master 
of Science in Management (ESSEC Business School 
Paris), and a Master of Science in Engineering 
(ENSMIM, France). Pascal is based in Singapore.

5. MAURY LEYLAND
Managing Director People, Culture and Strategy
Maury Leyland leads an integrated function 
comprising Fonterra’s People and Culture and Group 
Strategy functions. Maury has been with the Co-
operative since 2005, most recently as the Group 
Director of Strategy at Fonterra. She has worked 
across the supply chain and played an integral part in 
Trading Among Farmers and Fonterra’s Value Stream 
Optimisation programme. Prior to joining Fonterra, 
she spent nine years with The Boston Consulting 
Group. Originally an engineer, Maury was a member 
of Team New Zealand during the successful 1995 
America’s Cup campaign. Maury is also on the board 
of Spark New Zealand Limited. Maury holds a First 
Class Honours Degree in Engineering Science, is a 
Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers 
New Zealand and a member of the Institute of 
Directors in New Zealand.

6. JOHAN PRIEM
President Greater China
As President Greater China Johan Priem directs the 
development of Fonterra’s business in this priority 
market. Johan has a strong background in the global 
dairy industry. He has held senior leadership positions 
with Fonterra in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and 
Africa (APMEA) region where he was focused on 
driving growth across key strategic markets. His 
most recent role focused on enhancing Fonterra’s 
approach to food safety and quality, corporate social 
responsibility and sustainability. Before joining the 
Co-operative in 2013, Johan was on the Board of 
Management at Royal Friesland Foods (which later 
became Royal FrieslandCampina). At various times 
he was responsible for branded consumer businesses 
in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and West Africa, as 
well as the Corporate Marketing and Research and 
Development functions. Johan holds a Diploma of 
Marketing. Johan is based in Shanghai, China.

7. ROBERT SPURWAY
Managing Director Global Operations
Robert Spurway joined Fonterra in 2011. As Managing 
Director Global Operations, Robert leads Fonterra’s 
global operations business, responsible for the 
Co-operative’s manufacturing and supply logistics 
operations in New Zealand and around the world. In 
his previous role he was responsible for overseeing 
milk collection, manufacturing and logistics for the 
Co-operative’s New Zealand milk supply. Prior to that, 
he was Fonterra’s South Island Regional Operations 
Manager. In this role, he oversaw the greenfield 
development of the Co-operative’s Darfield site. 
Robert has more than 20 years’ experience in the 
food and dairy industries. After managing the 
Northland Dairy Company’s Dargaville site, he moved 
to Australia in 1999, where he held various roles in 
Goodman Fielder Australia. From 2008 to 2011 he 
led two Australian food companies before returning 
to New Zealand. Robert holds a Bachelor of 
Engineering (Chemical and Materials).

8. ALEX TURNBULL
Managing Director Latin America
Alex Turnbull leads Fonterra’s business in the fast-
growing markets of Argentina, Brazil, the Caribbean, 
Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela. 
Alex has more than 20 years’ experience in the dairy 
industry, having joined one of the Co-operative’s 
predecessors in 1990. Alex has extensive experience 
in key senior sales and general management roles 
within Latin America and New Zealand, and also 
in the leadership of Fonterra’s global paediatrics 
business. He is fluent in Portuguese, having spent 
almost a decade living in Brazil. Alex holds a Diploma 
of Dairy Science and Technology and a Chemical 
and Materials Engineering Degree.

9. KELVIN WICKHAM
Managing Director Global Ingredients
Kelvin Wickham leads the sale of all Fonterra 
ingredients globally, delivering solutions to our 
global accounts, ensuring tactical optimisation 
of demand and supply (S&OP), and managing the 
NZMP™ brand. Kelvin has more than 25 years’ 
experience in the dairy industry and has played a 
key role in furthering overseas markets, customer 
relationships and partnerships. His previous role 
of President Greater China and India focused on 
directing the development of Fonterra’s business 
in these expanding markets. He has a deep 
knowledge of the China operating environment 
and oversaw a period of rapid growth in this market. 
Prior to that, he led Fonterra’s Supplier and External 
Relations team, and was Managing Director of 
Fonterra’s Global Trade overseeing the launch of 
GlobalDairyTrade. From 2005 to 2007 he was the 
Director of Sales and Operations Planning. Kelvin 
holds a Chemical and Materials Engineering Degree, 
a Master of Management and a Diploma of Dairy 
Science and Technology.

4

7

5

8

6

9

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

63

 
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

SUMMARY 
FINANCIAL 
STATEMENTS 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

CONTENTS

DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT 

INCOME STATEMENT 

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME 

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION 

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY 

CASH FLOW STATEMENT 

NOTES TO THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT 

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

82

64  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

The Directors hereby approve and authorise for issue the summary financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2014 presented on pages 66 
to 81. For and on behalf of the Board:

JOHN WILSON 
CHAIRMAN 

23 September 2014 

DAVID JACKSON
DIRECTOR

23 September 2014

Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (Fonterra or the Company) is a co-operative company incorporated and domiciled in New Zealand. 
Fonterra is registered under the Companies Act 1993 and the Co-operative Companies Act 1996, and is an issuer for the purposes of the 
Financial Reporting Act 1993. Fonterra is also required to comply with the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001.

These summary financial statements are those of Fonterra and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the Group) and the Group’s interest in its 
equity accounted investees. They have been prepared in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard No. 43: Summary Financial Statements 
and have been extracted from the Group’s full financial statements that have been prepared in accordance with New Zealand Generally 
Accepted Accounting Practice. Fonterra’s full financial statements comply with New Zealand Equivalents to International Financial Reporting 
Standards and with International Financial Reporting Standards.

The Board has elected to present summary financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2014 as part of the Annual Review sent to 
Shareholders. These summary financial statements include notes setting out the key information.

These summary financial statements are presented for the year ended 31 July 2014. The comparative information is for the year ended 31 July 
2013. These summary financial statements of the Group have been prepared using the same accounting policies and measurement basis as the 
Group’s full financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2014. 

The full financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2014, approved and authorised for issue by the Board on 23 September 2014, have been 
audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers and given an unqualified opinion.

The Group is primarily involved in the collection, manufacture and sale of milk and milk derived products and is a profit-oriented entity. These 
summary financial statements are presented in New Zealand dollars ($), which is the Company’s functional and presentation currency, and 
rounded to the nearest million.

The summary financial statements cannot be expected to provide as complete an understanding of the financial affairs of the Group as the full 
financial statements, which are available from the Company’s registered office at 9 Princes Street, Auckland, New Zealand or on the Company’s 
website, www.fonterra.com.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

65

 
 
GROUP $ MILLION

NOTES

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

1

2

3

22,275

(19,813)

2,462

139

(593)

(499)

(762)

(356)

39

73

503

13

(379)

(366)

137

42

179

157

22

179

18,643

(15,611)

3,032

105

(622)

(514)

(766)

(354)

(7)

63

937

25

(294)

(269)

668

68

736

718

18

736

GROUP $

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

0.10

0.44

SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

INCOME STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Revenue from sale of goods

Cost of goods sold

Gross profit

Other operating income

Selling and marketing expenses

Distribution expenses

Administrative expenses

Other operating expenses

Net foreign exchange gains/(losses)

Share of profit of equity accounted investees

Profit before net finance costs and tax

Finance income

Finance costs

Net finance (costs)/income

Profit before tax

Tax credit

Profit after tax

Profit after tax is attributable to:

Equity holders of the Parent

Non-controlling interests

Profit after tax

Earnings per share:

Basic and diluted earnings per share

The accompanying notes form part of these summary financial statements.

66  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Profit after tax

Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:

Cash flow hedges:

– Net fair value gains

– Transferred and reported in revenue from sale of goods 

– Tax (expense)/credit on cash flow hedges

Net investment hedges:

– Net fair value gains/(losses) on hedging instruments

– Tax (expense)/credit on net investment hedges

Available-for-sale investments:

– Net fair value losses on available-for-sale investments

Foreign currency translation losses attributable to equity holders

Foreign currency translation reserve transferred to income statement

Share of equity accounted investees’ movements in reserves

Total items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:

Foreign currency translation (losses)/gains attributable to non-controlling interests

Total items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

Total other comprehensive (expense)/income recognised directly in equity

Total comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income is attributable to:

Equity holders of the Parent 

Non-controlling interests

Total comprehensive income

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

179

736

732

(505)

(63)

25

(7)

(1)

(207)

–

(11)

(37)

(4)

(4)

(41)

138

120

18

138

116

(317)

56

(5)

2

–

(45)

(7)

(1)

(201)

1

1

(200)

536

517

19

536

The accompanying notes form part of these summary financial statements.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

67

 
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 JULY 2014

GROUP $ MILLION

NOTES

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

ASSETS
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables 
Inventories
Tax receivable
Derivative financial instruments 
Assets held for sale
Other current assets 
Total current assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment
Equity accounted investments 
Intangible assets
Deferred tax assets
Available-for-sale investments
Derivative financial instruments
Other non-current assets 
Total non-current assets
Total assets

LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Bank overdraft
Borrowings
Trade and other payables 
Owing to suppliers
Tax payable
Derivative financial instruments
Provisions
Other current liabilities
Total current liabilities 
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings
Derivative financial instruments 
Provisions
Deferred tax liability
Other non-current liabilities
Total non-current liabilities 
Total liabilities
Net assets

EQUITY
Subscribed equity
Retained earnings
Foreign currency translation reserve
Cash flow hedge reserve
Available-for-sale reserve
Total equity attributable to equity holders of the Parent
Non-controlling interests
Total equity

The accompanying notes form part of these summary financial statements.

68  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

340
1,950
3,701
20
303
58
112
6,484

5,091
388
2,791
231
74
154
316
9,045
15,529

21
1,534
1,638
1,771
18
30
47
74
5,133

3,364
415
65
5
13
3,862
8,995
6,534

5,807
1,059
(455)
82
(1)
6,492
42
6,534

330
2,054
3,078
26
100
–
58
5,646

4,807
449
2,858
217
–
127
269
8,727
14,373

1
1,569
1,491
711
23
149
82
52
4,078

3,108
346
76
6
11
3,547
7,625
6,748

5,807
1,249
(266)
(82)
–
6,708
40
6,748

7

7

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

ATTRIBUTABLE TO EQUITY HOLDERS OF THE PARENT

FOREIGN 
CURRENCY 
TRANSLATION 
RESERVE

CASH FLOW 
HEDGE 
RESERVE

AVAILABLE-
FOR-SALE 
RESERVE

GROUP $ MILLION

As at 1 August 2013

Profit after tax

Other comprehensive (expense)/income

Total comprehensive income/(expense)

SUBSCRIBED 
EQUITY

RETAINED 
EARNINGS

5,807

1,249

–

–

–

157

(11)

146

Transactions with equity holders in their capacity as equity holders:

Dividend paid to equity holders of the Parent

Dividend paid to non-controlling interests

–

–

(336)

–

As at 31 July 2014

As at 1 August 2012

Profit after tax

Other comprehensive (expense)/income

Total comprehensive income/(expense)

5,807

1,059

(455)

5,690

1,078

–

–

–

718

(1)

717

Transactions with equity holders in their capacity as equity holders:

Dividend paid to equity holders of the Parent

Equity instruments issued

Equity instruments cancelled

Equity instruments surrendered

Equity transaction costs

Dividend paid to non-controlling interests

–

611

(475)

(1)

(18)

–

(546)

–

–

–

–

–

(266)

–

(189)

(189)

–

–

(211)

–

(55)

(55)

–

–

–

–

–

–

(82)

–

164

164

–

–

82

63

–

(145)

(145)

–

–

–

–

–

–

As at 31 July 2013

5,807

1,249

(266)

(82)

TOTAL

6,708

157

(37)

120

(336)

–

–

–

(1)

(1)

–

–

(1)

6,492

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

6,620

718

(201)

517

(546)

611

(475)

(1)

(18)

–

6,708

NON- 
CONTROLLING 
INTERESTS

40

22

(4)

18

–

(16)

42

35

18

1

19

–

–

–

–

–

(14)

40

TOTAL 
EQUITY

6,748

179

(41)

138

(336)

(16)

6,534

6,655

736

(200)

536

(546)

611

(475)

(1)

(18)

(14)

6,748

The accompanying notes form part of these summary financial statements.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

69

 
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

CASH FLOW STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before net finance costs and tax
Adjustments for:
Foreign exchange losses
Depreciation and amortisation
Movement in provisions
Other 

(Increase)/decrease in working capital:
Inventories
Trade and other receivables
Amounts owing to suppliers
Payables and accruals
Other movements 
Total
Cash generated from operations
Net taxes paid
Net cash flows from operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash was provided from:

– Proceeds from sale of Group entities and other business operations
– Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment
– Other cash inflow
Cash was applied to:

– Acquisition of Group entities and other business operations
– Acquisition of available-for-sale investments
– Acquisition of property, plant and equipment
– Acquisition of intangible assets
– Other cash outflow

Net cash flows from investing activities
Cash flows from financing activities
Cash was provided from:

– Proceeds from borrowings
– Proceeds from issue of equity instruments
– Interest received
– Other cash inflows

Cash was applied to:

– Interest paid
– Repayment of borrowings
– Settlement of borrowing derivatives
– Surrendered/cancelled equity instruments
– Dividends paid to non-controlling interests
– Dividends paid to equity holders of the Parent
– Equity transaction costs
– Other cash outflows

Net cash flows from financing activities
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash balances
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Reconciliation of closing cash balances to the statement of financial position:
Cash and cash equivalents
Bank overdraft
Closing cash balances

The accompanying notes form part of these summary financial statements.

70  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

503

11
538
132
(41)
640

(757)
(111)
1,060
111
(28)
275
1,418
(51)
1,367

46
12
21

(18)
(78)
(791)
(102)
(99)
(1,009)

4,241
–
13
8

(332)
(3,894)
(24)
–
(16)
(336)
–
–
(340)
18
329
(28)
319

340
(21)
319

937

1
530
(17)
(16)
498

(43)
38
(410)
68
(8)
(355)
1,080
(83)
997

5
22
5

(49)
–
(701)
(147)
(3)
(868)

3,188
653
26
3

(334)
(3,268)
–
(475)
(14)
(546)
(18)
(1)
(786)
(657)
991
(5)
329

330
(1)
329

NOTES TO THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

1 

COST OF GOODS SOLD

Opening inventory

Cost of Milk:

– New Zealand sourced

– Non-New Zealand sourced

Other purchases

Closing inventory

Total cost of goods sold

2 

PROFIT BEFORE NET FINANCE COSTS AND TAX

The following items have been included in arriving at profit before net finance costs and tax: 

Auditors’ remuneration:

– Fees paid for the audit or review of the financial statements
– Fees paid for other services1

Operating lease expense

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment

Amortisation of intangible assets

Research and development costs

Net loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment

Donations

Research and development grants received from government

Total employee benefits expense

Included in employee benefits expense are: 

– Contributions to defined contribution plans

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

3,078

2,981

13,226

1,192

6,018

(3,701)

19,813

8,635

996

6,077

(3,078)

15,611

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

5

1

66

437

101

87

1

1

(5)

1,717

61

4

2

72

444

86

94

5

2

(4)

1,735

58

1   The Group uses the services of PricewaterhouseCoopers on assignments additional to their statutory audit duties where their expertise and experience with the Group 

are important and auditor independence is not impaired. Other services include advisory services $0.3 million (31 July 2013: $0.6 million) and other assurance and 
attestation services $0.2 million (31 July 2013: $1.4 million).

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

71

 
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

NOTES TO THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

3 

TAX CREDIT

Current tax expense

Prior period adjustments to current tax

Deferred tax movements:

− Origination and reversal of temporary differences

Tax credit

Profit before tax

Prima facie tax expense at 28%

(Deduct)/add tax effect of:

− Effect of tax rates in foreign jurisdictions 

− Non-deductible expenses/additional assessable income

− Non-assessable income/additional deductible expenses

− Prior year over provision

Tax expense before distributions and deferred tax

Effective tax rate before distributions and deferred tax

Tax effect of distributions to farmer shareholders

Tax (credit)/expense before deferred tax

Effective tax rate before deferred tax

(Deduct)/add tax effect of:

− Origination and reversal of other temporary differences

− Change in estimate of benefits of tax losses recognised

− Losses of overseas Group entities not recognised

Tax credit

Effective tax rate

Imputation credits

Imputation credits available for use in subsequent reporting periods 

Tax losses
Gross tax losses available for which no deferred tax asset has been recognised

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

54

(2)

(94)

(42)

137

38

(13)

31

(36)

(2)

18

13.1%

(38)

(20)

(14.6)%

(45)

–

23

(42)

83

(11)

(140)

(68)

668

187

(18)

25

(29)

(11)

154

23.1%

(126)

28

4.2%

(40)

(70)

14

(68)

(30.7)%

(10.2)%

20

201

20

109

72  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

4 

SEGMENT REPORTING

The Group operates predominantly in the international dairy industry.

The Group has four reportable segments that are defined by product type and geographic area to reflect how the Group’s operations are 
managed.

The reportable segments presented reflect the Group’s management and reporting structure as viewed by the Fonterra Management Team, 
which is the Group’s chief operating decision maker.

During the year ended 31 July 2013, transactions between segments were based on estimated market prices. During the year ended 31 July 2014, 
transactions between segments were based on estimated market prices adjusted for the difference between the Farmgate Milk Price calculated 
in accordance with the Farmgate Milk Price Manual and that determined by the Board.

REPORTABLE SEGMENT

DESCRIPTION

New Zealand Milk Products (NZMP)

Oceania (formerly ANZ)

Asia (formerly Asia/AME)

Latin America (Latam)

Represents the collection, processing and distribution of New Zealand milk, global 
sales and marketing of New Zealand and non-New Zealand milk products (including 
North Asia), Global Brands & Nutrition, Co-operative Affairs and Group Services.

Represents Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) businesses in New Zealand 
(including export to the Pacific Islands) and all FMCG and ingredients businesses 
in Australia (including Milk Supply and Manufacturing). It includes foodservice 
sales in Australia and New Zealand (except for foodservice sales to Quick Service 
Restaurants), and RD1.

Represents FMCG and foodservice businesses in Asia (excluding North Asia), Africa 
and the Middle East and China. It includes international farming ventures in China.

Represents FMCG businesses in Chile and equity accounted investments in South 
America. It includes international farming ventures in South America.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

73

 
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

NOTES TO THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

4 

SEGMENT REPORTING CONTINUED

a)  Segment income

Segment income statement

Year ended 31 July 2014
External revenue

Inter-segment revenue

Revenue from sale of goods

Cost of goods sold

Segment gross profit

Selling and marketing expenses

Distribution expenses

Administrative and other operating expenses

Segment operating expenses

Net other operating income

Net foreign exchange gains/(losses)

Share of profit of equity accounted investees

Segment earnings before net finance costs and tax

Finance income

Finance costs

Profit before tax

Profit before tax includes the following amounts:

Depreciation

Amortisation

Other income from equity accounted investees

Segment asset information:

As at and for the year ended 31 July 2014
Equity accounted investments 

Capital expenditure

NZMP

OCEANIA

ASIA

LATAM ELIMINATIONS TOTAL GROUP

GROUP $ MILLION

16,044

1,997

18,041

(17,011)

1,030

(105)

(184)

(671)

(960)

95

50

54

269

(323)

(75)

–

218

602

2,979

621

3,600

(3,017)

583

(137)

(182)

(255)

(574)

18

(1)

5

31

(72)

(22)

2

36

93

2,149

19

2,168

(1,587)

581

(299)

(38)

(168)

(505)

27

(12)

–

91

(16)

(3)

–

–

153

1,103

58

1,161

(894)

267

(52)

(95)

(51)

(198)

26

2

14

111

(26)

(1)

24

134

44

–

22,275

(2,695)

(2,695)

2,696

1

–

–

27

27

(27)

–

–

1

–

–

–

–

–

–

22,275

(19,813)

2,462

(593)

(499)

(1,118)

(2,210)

139

39

73

503

13

(379)

137

(437)

(101)

26

388

892

74 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

a)  Segment income CONTINUED

Segment income statement

Year ended 31 July 2013
External revenue

Inter-segment revenue

Revenue from sale of goods

Cost of goods sold

Segment gross profit

Selling and marketing expenses

Distribution expenses

Administrative and other operating expenses

Segment operating expenses

Net other operating income

Foreign exchange losses

Share of profit of equity accounted investees

Segment earnings before net finance costs and tax

Normalisation adjustments

Normalised segment earnings before net finance costs and tax

Normalisation adjustments

Finance income

Finance costs

Profit before tax

Profit before tax includes the following amounts:

Depreciation

Amortisation

Other income from equity accounted investees

Normalisation adjustments consist of the following amounts:

Costs associated with closure of Cororooke plant in Australia
Restructuring costs associated with the Group Strategy 
Right-Sizing

Other

Total normalisation adjustments¹

Segment asset information:

As at and for the year ended 31 July 2013
Equity accounted investments 

Capital expenditure

     GROUP $ MILLION

NZMP

OCEANIA

ASIA

LATAM

ELIMINA-
TIONS

TOTAL 
GROUP

12,358

1,559

13,917

3,101

644

3,745

(12,666)

(2,989)

1,251

(89)

(188)

(615)

(892)

69

(7)

59

480

14

494

(320)

(68)

3

–

14

–

14

218

683

756

(150)

(203)

(324)

(677)

11

–

3

93

49

142

(83)

(13)

2

30

19

–

49

31

144

2,057

2

2,059

(1,357)

702

(324)

(42)

(153)

(519)

24

–

–

207

2

209

(14)

(4)

–

–

5

(3)

2

–

70

1,127

8

1,135

(832)

303

(59)

(81)

(51)

(191)

24

–

1

137

–

137

(27)

(1)

24

–

–

–

–

200

29

–

18,643

(2,213)

(2,213)

2,233

20

–

–

23

23

(23)

–

–

20

–

20

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

18,643

(15,611)

3,032

(622)

(514)

(1,120)

(2,256)

105

(7)

63

937

65

1,002

(65)

25

(294)

668

(444)

(86)

29

30

38

(3)

65

449

926

1  Of the $65 million normalisation adjustments, $47 million related to operating expenses and $18 million to cost of goods sold.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

75

 
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

NOTES TO THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

4 

SEGMENT REPORTING CONTINUED

b)  Revenue

Entity wide products and services:
Consumer goods

Ingredients and other revenue

Revenue from sale of goods

     GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

4,527

17,748

22,275

4,717

13,926

18,643

EUROPE

CHINA

ASIA AUSTRALIA

REST OF 

NEW  
ZEALAND

USA

LATAM

REST OF 
WORLD

TOTAL

GROUP $ MILLION

Geographical segment external revenue:
Year ended 31 July 2014
Year ended 31 July 2013

946

1,096

5,537

2,500

5,787

5,216

1,666

1,850

2,162

1,986

1,014

1,415

1,802

1,984

3,361

2,596

22,275

18,643

Revenue is allocated to geographical segments on the basis of the destination of the goods sold.

c)  Non-current assets

GROUP $ MILLION

NZMP

OCEANIA

ASIA

LATAM

TOTAL

NEW 
ZEALAND

REST OF  
WORLD

NEW 
ZEALAND

AUSTRALIA

Geographical segment reportable non-current assets:
As at 31 July 2014
As at 31 July 2013

4,300

4,199

383

303

1,387

1,350

1,022

1,047

1,123

940

445

544

8,660

8,383

Reconciliation of geographical segment non-current assets to total non-current assets:
Geographical segment non-current assets 

Deferred tax asset 

Derivative financial instruments 

Total non-current assets

     GROUP $ MILLION

AS AT 
31 JULY 2014

AS AT 
31 JULY 2013

8,660

231

154

9,045

8,383

217

127

8,727

76 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

5 

SUBSCRIBED EQUITY INSTRUMENTS AND RESERVES

Subscribed equity instruments include Co-operative shares and units in the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund (the Fund).

Co-operative shares, including shares held within the Group

Balance at 1 August 2013

Shares issued

Shares surrendered

Balance at 31 July 2014 

Balance at 1 August 2012

Shares issued prior to the launch of TAF

Shares surrendered prior to the launch of TAF

Total number of shares on issue prior to the launch of TAF

Shares issued on the launch of TAF

Bonus issue¹

Shares cancelled²

Balance at 31 July 2013

CO-OPERATIVE SHARES  
(THOUSANDS)

1,597,834

–

–

1,597,834

1,501,784

25,886

(99)

1,527,571

89,809

40,427

(59,973)

1,597,834

1  On 27 February 2013, Fonterra announced a non-cash Bonus issue of one share for every 40 shares held. The Bonus issue increased the number of shares on issue by 
  40.4 million. The record date for the Bonus issue was 12 April 2013 and the issue date was 24 April 2013.

2  Shares cancelled following the Supply Offer (refer to Fonterra farmer shareholders Supply Offer below).

Co-operative shares may only be held by a shareholder supplying milk to the Company in a season (farmer shareholder) and Fonterra Farmer 
Custodian Limited (the Custodian). Rights attaching to Co-operative shares include: 

–  voting rights when backed by milk supply3;

–  the right to receive the share-backed milk price on each kilogram of milksolids produced by the farmer shareholder3;

–  rights to any distributions declared by the Board; and

–  rights to share in any surplus on liquidation of the Company.

Farmer shareholders
The Company maintains a Share Standard that requires a farmer shareholder to hold one Co-operative share4 for each kilogram of milksolids 
supplied to the Company by that farmer shareholder. This is measured as an average over the three preceding seasons5 production (excluding 
milk supplied under contract supply in that season). Farmer shareholders are permitted to hold more or fewer Co-operative shares than required 
by the Share Standard in certain circumstances4. Farmer shareholders supplying under contract must hold at least 1,000 Co-operative shares.

In addition to Co-operative shares held under the Share Standard, farmer shareholders are able to hold further Co-operative shares up to 100 per 
cent of production (where production is defined as the minimum number of Co-operative shares a farmer shareholder is required to hold under 
the Share Standard). No farmer shareholder (including its related parties) is allowed to hold interests in Co-operative shares, not backed by milk 
supply, exceeding five per cent of the total number of Co-operative shares on issue.

Farmer shareholders have a number of alternatives in meeting the requirements of the Share Standard4. These include purchasing the required 
shares over a three year period, along with other flexible arrangements provided by the Co-operative.

Voting rights in the Company are dependent on milk supply supported by Co-operative shares3. A farmer shareholder is entitled on a poll or 
postal vote, to one vote per 1,000 kilograms of milksolids if that farmer shareholder holds a Co-operative share3 for each of those kilograms of 
milksolids. The amount of milksolids that support voting rights are measured at 31 May, the season end date6. As at the season end date, the 
aggregate milksolids eligible for voting was 1,537,000,000 kilograms of milksolids (31 May 2013: 1,424,000,000 kilograms of milksolids).

Farmer shareholders are able to buy and sell Co-operative shares directly on the Fonterra Shareholders’ Market. Shareholders may elect to sell 
the Economic Rights of some of their Co-operative shares to the Fund, subject to an individual limit set by the Board within an overall individual 
limit set out in the Company’s constitution. On the sale of an Economic Right of a Co-operative share to the Fund, a farmer shareholder transfers 
the legal title to the Co-operative share to the Custodian. Where the Co-operative share transferred was backed by milk supply, the farmer 
shareholder is issued a voucher by the Custodian (subject to limits).

3  These rights are also attached to vouchers when backed by milk supply (subject to limits).
4  The Fonterra Board may permit the Share Standard to be satisfied through the holding of both Co-operative shares and vouchers.
5  This requirement commenced from 1 June 2013. Prior to this date, the requirement was based on kilograms of milksolids supplied for the previous season.
6  Aggregate milksolids eligible for voting at season end date are adjusted for farmer shareholders who have joined the Company or are no longer supplying milk to the 

Company in the period between the season end date and the record date for the meeting at which the vote is to be held.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

77

 
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

NOTES TO THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

5 

SUBSCRIBED EQUITY INSTRUMENTS AND RESERVES CONTINUED

Fonterra farmer shareholder Supply Offer
In May 2013, Fonterra provided its farmer shareholders with an opportunity to sell Economic Rights of shares backed by milk supply to the Fund, 
and to sell to Fonterra the resulting units (Supply Offer).

Under this Supply Offer, farmer shareholders sold the Economic Rights of 60 million Co-operative shares to the Custodian, resulting in the 
issuance of 60 million units in the Fund. Fonterra acquired the 60 million units via the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) and immediately 
redeemed these, resulting in the transfer of 60 million Co-operative shares to Fonterra by the Custodian. Fonterra subsequently cancelled these 
shares. As a result of this redemption, the Supply Offer did not ultimately affect the total number of units on issue. 

The Custodian
The Custodian holds legal title of Co-operative shares of which the Economic Rights have been sold to the Fund on trust for the benefit of the Fund. 
At 31 July 2014, 109,777,717 Co-operative shares (31 July 2013: 107,969,310) were legally owned by the Custodian, on trust for the benefit of the Fund.

Balance at 1 August 2013

Units issued

Units surrendered

Balance at 31 July 2014 

Balance at 1 August 2012¹

Units issued²

Units surrendered³

Balance at 31 July 2013 

UNITS (THOUSANDS)

107,969

13,116

(11,307)

109,778

–

169,470

(61,501)

107,969

1  The Fund commenced issuing units on 30 November 2012.

2  Includes 60 million units issued under the Supply Offer.

3  Includes 60 million units redeemed by Fonterra under the Supply Offer. 

Units are issued by the Fund. In respect of the Co-operative shares that it holds, the Custodian is required under trust to pass to the Fund the 
following rights of those Co-operative shares:

–  the right to receive any dividends declared by the Fonterra Board;

–  the right to any other distributions made in respect of Co-operative shares; and

–  rights to share in any surplus on liquidation of Fonterra.

The Fund then attaches these rights to units it issues.

A farmer shareholder who holds a unit can require the Fund to effectively exchange it for a Co-operative share held by the Custodian. The 
Custodian relinquishes legal ownership of that Co-operative share (provided that completion of this transaction would not put that farmer 
shareholder in breach of the limits on Co-operative share ownership explained above). A unit is cancelled by the Fund, as all units in the Fund 
must be backed by a Co-operative share held by the Custodian.

Equity transaction costs
During the year ended 31 July 2013, the Group incurred transaction costs of $18 million, which were directly attributable to the issue of shares 
and units as a part of the launch of Trading Among Farmers. These costs were treated as a deduction against subscribed equity. 

Dividends paid
All Co-operative shares, including those held by the Custodian on trust for the benefit of the Fund, are eligible to receive a dividend if declared 
by the Board. 

On 24 September 2013, the Board of Directors declared a final dividend of 16.0 cents per share (totalling $256 million), paid on 18 October 2013 
to all Co-operative shares on issue at 10 October 2013.

On 25 March 2014, the Board of Directors declared an interim dividend of 5.0 cents per share (totalling $80 million), paid on 17 April 2014 to all 
Co-operative shares on issue at 10 April 2014.

Foreign currency translation reserve
The foreign currency translation reserve comprises all foreign currency differences arising from the translation of the financial statements 
of foreign operations as well as from the effective portion of translation or fair value changes of instruments that hedge the Group’s net 
investment in foreign operations.

Cash flow hedge reserve
The cash flow hedge reserve comprises the effective portion of the cumulative net change in the fair value of cash flow hedging instruments 
related to hedged transactions that have not yet occurred.

78 

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

6 

EQUITY ACCOUNTED INVESTMENTS

The ownership interest of the following entities is 50% or less and the Group is not considered to exercise a controlling interest. These entities 
are therefore accounted for as equity accounted investees.

OVERSEAS EQUITY ACCOUNTED INVESTEES1

COUNTRY OF INCORPORATION2

Brazil
Germany
Jamaica
USA
USA
Barbados

Dairy Partners Americas Brasil Limitada
DMV Fonterra Excipients GmbH & Co KG
Dairy Industries (Jamaica) Limited
DairiConcepts, L.P.
DairiConcepts Management, L.L.C.
Lacven Corporation

1  All investees have balance dates of 31 December.

2  This is also the principal place of business. 

NEW ZEALAND EQUITY ACCOUNTED INVESTEES

International Nutritionals Limited

7 

BORROWINGS

Movements in borrowings 

Opening balance

New issues

Bank loans

Finance leases

Commercial paper

Medium-term notes

Repayments 

Bank loans

Finance leases

Commercial paper 

Medium-term notes

Other movements
Amortisation of discount

Changes in fair value 

Changes due to foreign currency translation

Closing balance 

OWNERSHIP INTERESTS (%)

AS AT
31 JULY 2014

AS AT
31 JULY 2013

50
50
50
50
50
25

50
50
50
50
50
25

OWNERSHIP INTERESTS (%)

AS AT
31 JULY 2014

AS AT
31 JULY 2013

50

50

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

4,677

1,764

18

1,344

1,115

4,241

(1,999)

(9)

(1,311)

(575)

(3,894)

12

(30)

(108)

(126)

4,898

4,949

2,386

–

834

–

3,220

(1,937)

(4)

(611)

(751)

(3,303)

18

(95)

(112)

(189)

4,677

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

79

 
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

NOTES TO THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CONTINUED
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

7 

BORROWINGS CONTINUED

Net interest bearing debt position

Total borrowings

Cash and cash equivalents

Interest bearing advances included in other non-current assets

Bank overdraft

Net interest bearing debt
Value of derivatives used to manage changes in hedged risks and other foreign exchange 
movements on debt

Economic net interest bearing debt¹

1   Economic net interest bearing debt reflects the effect of debt hedging in place at balance date.

Net interest bearing debt is managed on a Group basis.

Net tangible assets per security2
$ per listed debt security on issue

$ per equity instruments on issue

Listed debt securities on issue (million)

Equity instruments on issue (million)

2   Net tangible assets represents total assets less total liabilities less intangible assets.

8 

BUSINESS COMBINATIONS

There were no material business combinations during the year ended 31 July 2014 or 31 July 2013. 

9 

FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT

GROUP $ MILLION

AS AT 
31 JULY 2014

AS AT 
31 JULY 2013

4,898

(340)

(81)

21

4,498

234

4,732

4,677

(330)

(121)

1

4,227

240

4,467

GROUP

AS AT 
31 JULY 2014

AS AT 
31 JULY 2013

3.55

2.34

1,053

1,598

3.70

2.43

1,053

1,598

Overview
Global financial and commodity markets remain volatile. The nature of Fonterra’s business is such that managing risks in the foreign exchange, 
interest rate, commodity, credit and liquidity markets is critical to minimising the volatility in returns to equity holders.

The Board has overall responsibility for the establishment and oversight of the Group’s financial risk management framework. The Board:

–  has established financial risk management policies and procedures to identify, analyse and, where appropriate, manage the financial risks 

faced by the Group;

–  has approved a Treasury Policy that covers appropriate financial risk limits and controls (including, but not limited to, delegated authority 

levels and authorised use of various financial instruments); and 

–  monitors financial risks and adherence to approved limits.

The Group’s overall financial risk management programme focuses primarily on maintaining a prudent financial risk profile that provides 
flexibility to implement the Group’s strategies, while ensuring the optimisation of the return on assets. Financial risk management is 
centralised, which ensures compliance with the financial risk management policies and procedures set by the Board. The Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer manages financial risk, including foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk and commodity price risk.

During the year, in order to manage financial risks, the key financial risk management activities undertaken by the Group included, but were not 
limited to, the following:

Capital structure
Fonterra launched Trading Among Farmers (TAF) in November 2012. A key objective in establishing TAF was to support the establishment of 
the Fonterra Shareholders’ Market in order to eliminate redemption risk and provide a permanent capital base for the Co-operative. Equity 
instruments comprise Co-operative shares and units in the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund. These are classified as subscribed equity. Further detail 
is given in Note 5. 

80  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

9 

FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT CONTINUED

Bank facility renewal
Fonterra’s banking facilities are renewed at least annually with the exception of certain facilities where renewals are required at agreed periods 
of more than one year. On 31 July 2014, Fonterra had $3,215 million (31 July 2013: $3,289 million) of undrawn committed facilities.

Economic debt to debt plus equity ratio
The economic debt to debt plus equity ratio at 31 July 2014 is 42.3% (31 July 2013: 39.6%). 

For more details in respect of financial risks faced by the Group, refer to the Group’s full consolidated financial statements.

10  CONTINGENT LIABILITIES 

In the normal course of business, Fonterra, its subsidiaries and equity accounted investees are exposed to claims, legal proceedings and 
arbitrations that may in some cases result in costs to the Group. 

In early August 2013, Fonterra publically announced a potential food safety issue with three batches of Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC80) 
produced at the Hautapu manufacturing site and initiated a precautionary product recall. 

In late August 2013, the New Zealand Government confirmed that the Clostridium samples found in WPC80 were not Clostridium botulinum 
and were not toxigenic, meaning the consumers of products containing the relevant batches of WPC80 were never in danger from Clostridium 
botulinum. 

In January 2014, Danone formally initiated legal proceedings against Fonterra in relation to the WPC80 precautionary recall.

Fonterra is working through the detail of Danone’s claims. Based on current information available and the claims made to date, Fonterra will 
vigorously defend its position. Uncertainty exists regarding the outcome of the proceedings. Fonterra has provided $11 million which represents 
the maximum contractual liability to Danone.

The warranty claims made by the purchaser of the Group’s former Western Australia dairy business are no longer outstanding, as at 31 July 2014.

The Directors believe that these claims, legal proceedings and arbitrations have been adequately provided for and disclosed by the Group and 
that there are no additional legal proceedings or arbitrations that are pending at the date of these financial statements that require provision or 
disclosure.

The Group has no other contingent liabilities as at 31 July 2014 (31 July 2013: nil).

11 

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

On 23 September 2014, the Board declared a final dividend of 5.0 cents per share, to be paid on 20 October 2014 to all Co-operative shares on 
issue at 9 October 2014.

On 27 May 2014 the Group entered into agreements to realign Latam segment’s Dairy Partners Americas (DPA) joint venture arrangements.

In late 2014, the Group’s equity accounted investments in Ecuador (Ecuajugos S.A.) and DPA’s milk powder manufacturing business (DPA 
Manufacturing Holdings Limited) will be sold to Nestlé. 

On 1 August 2014, the Group purchased additional voting equity interests in DPA Brazil (Dairy Partners Americas Brasil Limitada – from 50% to 
51%, with Nestlé holding the balance) and DPA Venezuela (Lacven Corporation – from 25% to 60%, with the local partner holding the balance). 
These equity accounted investments became consolidated subsidiaries from that date. 

The accounting for these business combinations has not yet been finalised, and therefore detailed disclosures for these business combinations 
is not presented in these financial statements. 

There were no other material events subsequent to 31 July 2014 that would impact these financial statements.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

81

 
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

TO THE SHAREHOLDERS OF FONTERRA CO-OPERATIVE GROUP LIMITED

REPORT ON THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

We have audited the accompanying summary financial statements of Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (“the Company”) on pages 66 to 81 
which comprise the statement of financial position as at 31 July 2014, the income statement, statement of comprehensive income, statement 
of changes in equity and cash flow statement for the year then ended, and the notes to the financial statements, which are derived from the 
audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended 31 July 2014. The Group comprises the Company and the entities it controlled 
at 31 July 2014 or from time to time during the financial year.

The summary financial statements do not contain all the disclosures required for full financial statements under generally accepted accounting 
practice in New Zealand. Reading the summary financial statements, therefore, is not a substitute for reading the audited financial statements 
of Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited.

Directors’ Responsibility for the Summary Financial Statements
The Directors are responsible for the preparation of the summary financial statements in accordance with FRS-43: Summary Financial 
Statements (“FRS-43”).

Auditors’ Responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the summary financial statements based on our procedures, which were conducted in accordance 
with International Standard on Auditing (New Zealand) 810: Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements.

We carry out other assignments on behalf of the Company and the Group in the areas of other audit related services, transaction and other 
advisory services. Partners and employees of our firm may deal with the Company and the Group on normal terms within the ordinary course 
of trading activities of the Company and the Group. These matters have not impaired our independence as auditors of the Company and the 
Group.

Opinion on the Company and Group’s Financial Statements
Our audit of the financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2014 was completed on 23 September 2014 and our unmodified opinion was 
issued on that date. 

Opinion on the Summary Financial Statements
In our opinion, the summary financial statements have been correctly derived from the audited financial statements of Fonterra Co-operative 
Group Limited for the year ended 31 July 2014 and are consistent, in all material respects, with those financial statements, in accordance with 
FRS-43.

RESTRICTION ON DISTRIBUTION OR USE

This report is made solely to the Company’s shareholders, as a body, in accordance with Section 205(1) of the Companies Act 1993. Our audit 
work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company’s shareholders those matters which we are required to state to them in an 
auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other 
than the Company and the Company’s shareholders, as a body, for our audit work, for this report or for the opinions we have formed.

Chartered Accountants 
Auckland
23 September 2014

82  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

STATUTORY INFORMATION  FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

STATUTORY INFORMATION
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2014

CURRENT CREDIT RATING STATUS

Standard & Poor’s long term rating for Fonterra is A with a rating outlook of stable. Fitch’s long and short term default rating is AA- with a rating 
outlook of stable. Retail Bonds have been rated the same as the Company’s long term rating by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch. Capital Notes 
which are subordinate to other Fonterra debt issued are rated A- by Standard & Poor’s and A+ by Fitch.

EXCHANGE RULINGS AND WAIVERS

NZX Limited (NZX) has ruled that Capital Notes do not constitute “equity securities” under its Listing Rules (Rules). This means that where 
Capital Notes are quoted on NZX’s debt market (NZDX), the Company is not required to comply with certain Rules which apply to an issuer of 
quoted equity securities. 

NZX has granted waivers from NZDX Rule 11.1.1 to enable Fonterra to decline to accept or register transfers of Capital Notes or Retail Bonds 
(NZDX listed debt securities FCGHA, FCG010 and FCG020) if such transfer would result in the transferor holding or continuing to hold Capital 
Notes or Retail Bonds with a face value or principal amount of less than $5,000 or if such transfer is for an amount of less than $1,000 or 
multiple thereof. The effect of these waivers is that the minimum holding amount in respect of the Capital Notes and Retail Bonds will at all 
times be $5,000 in aggregate and that Retail Bonds can only be transferred in multiples of $1,000.

NZX has also granted a waiver from NZDX Rule 5.2.3 in respect of Retail Bond FCG020 to enable that Bond to be quoted on the NZDX market 
even though it did not meet the requirement that at least 500 members of the public held at least 25% of the Bonds being issued.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

83

 
FIVE YEAR SUMMARY

FIVE YEAR SUMMARY

SHAREHOLDER SUPPLIER RETURNS
Payout
Farmgate Milk Price (per kgMS)1
Dividend (per share)
Cash payout2
Retentions (per share)3

OPERATING PERFORMANCE
Average commodity prices (US$ per MT FOB)
Whole Milk Powder4
Skim Milk Powder4
Butter4
Cheese5

Average NZD/USD spot exchange rate applying throughout the year 6
Fonterra’s average NZD/USD conversion rate7

Revenue ($ million)
Ingredients and other revenue
Consumer revenue
Total revenue

Dairy ingredients manufactured in New Zealand (000s MT)
Total ingredients sales volume (000s MT) 

Segment earnings ($ million)8
New Zealand Milk Products
Oceania
Asia
Latin America 
Eliminations
Segment earnings
Normalisation adjustments
Normalised segment earnings

Profit after tax attributable to shareholders ($ million)

Earnings per share9

JULY 2014

JULY 2013

JULY 2012

JULY 2011

JULY 2010

8.40
0.10
8.50
–

4,827
4,509
3,920
4,706

0.84
0.81

17,748
4,527
22,275

2,519
2,800

269
31
91
111
1
503
–
503

157

0.10

5.84
0.32
6.16
0.14

3,394
3,625
3,550
4,124

0.82
0.80

13,926
4,717
18,643

2,312
2,765

480
93
207
137
20
937
65
1,002

718

0.44

6.08
0.32
6.40
0.10

3,359
3,285
3,546
3,498

0.80
0.77

14,824
4,945
19,769

2,353
2,660

477
218
182
124
(14)
987
41
1,028

609

0.41

7.60
0.30
7.90
0.25

3,606
3,321
4,344
4,285

0.77
0.72

14,623
5,248
19,871

2,143
2,486

419
278
193
121
17
1,028
(23)
1,005

754

0.53

6.10
0.27
6.37
0.23

2,905
2,658
3,033
3,819

0.71
0.67

11,818
4,908
16,726

2,058
2,392

496
299
176
107
–
1,078
(174)
904

669

0.50

1  From the beginning of the 2009 season the Farmgate Milk Price has been determined by the Board. In making that determination, the Board takes into account the 

Farmgate Milk Price calculated in accordance with the principles set out in the Farmgate Milk Price Manual which is independently audited.

2  Average Payout for a 100% share-backed supplier.
3  Retentions are calculated as net profit after tax attributable to Co-operative shareholders at 31 July divided by the number of shares at 31 May, less dividend per share.
4  Source: Fonterra Farmgate Milk Price Statement representing the weighted-average United States Dollars (USD) contract prices of Reference Commodity Products.
5  Source: Oceania Export Series, Agricultural Marketing Service, US Department of Agriculture.
6  Average spot exchange rate is the average of the daily spot rates for the financial period.
7  Fonterra’s average conversion rate is the rate that Fonterra has converted net United States dollar receipts into New Zealand dollars based on the hedge cover in place.
8  Represents segment earnings before unallocated finance income, finance costs and tax. The year ended 31 July 2012 has been restated to reflect changes to the 

organisation of business units within reported segments which occurred in the year ended 31 July 2013. The years ended 31 July 2011 and 31 July 2010 have been restated 
to reflect changes to the organisation of business units within reported segments which occurred in the year ended 31 July 2012.

9  On 27 February 2013, Fonterra announced a non-cash bonus issue of one share for every 40 shares held. The bonus issue increased the number of shares on issue by 

40.4 million. The record date for the bonus issue was 12 April 2013 and the issue date was 24 April 2013. Earnings per share for the years ended 31 July 2012, 31 July 2011 
and 31 July 2010 have been restated as if the bonus issue was effective at the beginning of the periods presented.

84  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

 
 
CAPITAL EMPLOYED ($ million)
Total assets employed
Average net assets10
Total equity
Equity excluding cash flow hedge reserve
Net interest bearing debt
Economic net interest bearing debt11
Return on net assets10

Headline debt to debt plus equity ratio12
Economic debt to debt plus equity ratio12

JULY 2014

JULY 2013

JULY 2012

JULY 2011

JULY 2010

15,529
10,860
6,534
6,452
4,498
4,732
4.6%

41.1%
42.3%

14,373
11,135
6,748
6,830
4,227
4,467
9.0%

38.2%
39.6%

15,117
10,900
6,655
6,592
3,833
4,229
9.4%

36.8%
39.1%

15,530
10,772
6,541
6,025
3,766
4,331
9.3%

38.5%
41.8%

14,169
10,433
5,667
5,526
4,268
4,494
8.7%

43.6%
44.9%

JULY 2014

JULY 2013

JULY 2012

JULY 2011

JULY 2010

STAFF EMPLOYED
Total staff employed (000s, permanent full time equivalents)
New Zealand
Overseas 

18.2
11.4
6.8

17.5
11.2
6.3

17.3
11.0
6.3

16.8
10.8
6.0

15.8
9.8
6.0

SEASON STATISTICS13
Total NZ milk collected (million litres)
Highest daily volume collected (million litres)

NZ shareholder supply milksolids collected (million kgMS) 
NZ contract supply milksolids collected (million kgMS) 
NZ milksolids collected (million kgMS)

Total number of shareholders at 31 May
Total number of sharemilkers at 31 May
Total number of shares at 31 May (million)

JULY 2014

JULY 2013

JULY 2012

JULY 2011

JULY 2010

17,932
87.1

1,533
51
1,584

10,721
3,398
1,598

16,673
84.8

1,424
39
1,463

10,668
3,449
1,598

16,951
81.2

1,463
30
1,493

10,578
3,595
1,433

15,427
76.8

1,320
26
1,346

10,485
3,928
1,377

14,746
72.3

1,256
30
1,286

10,463
3,733
1,343

10 Return on net assets (RONA) is derived by dividing normalised EBIT (as reported in financial statements) by 13 month average net assets (excluding net debt 

and deferred tax).

11  Economic net interest bearing debt reflects the effect of debt hedging in place at balance date.

12  Headline debt to debt plus equity ratio is before taking account of the effect of debt hedging. Economic debt to debt plus equity includes the effect of debt hedging.

13  All season statistics are based on the 12 month milk season of 1 June – 31 May.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

85

 
 
NON-GAAP MEASURES

NON-GAAP MEASURES

Fonterra uses several non-GAAP measures when discussing financial performance. For further details and definitions of non-GAAP measures 
used by Fonterra, refer to the glossary on page 87. These are non-GAAP measures and are not prepared in accordance with NZ IFRS. 

Management believes that these measures provide useful information as they provide valuable insight on the underlying performance of the 
business. They may be used internally to evaluate the underlying performance of business units and to analyse trends. These measures are not 
uniformly defined or utilised by all companies. Accordingly, these measures may not be comparable with similarly titled measures used by other 
companies. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be viewed in isolation nor considered as a substitute for measures reported in accordance 
with NZ IFRS.

Reconciliations for the NZ IFRS measures to certain non-GAAP measures referred to by Fonterra are detailed below.

Reconciliation from the NZ IFRS measure of profit for the period to Fonterra’s normalised EBITDA

Profit for the period 
Add: Depreciation 
Add: Amortisation
Add: Net finance costs
Less: Taxation credit
Total EBITDA 
Add: Costs associated with closure of Cororooke plant in Australia 
Add: Costs associated with Group Strategy Right-Sizing
Less: Other
Total normalisation adjustments
Normalised EBITDA

Reconciliation from the NZ IFRS measure of profit for the period to Fonterra’s normalised EBIT

Profit for the period 
Add: Net finance costs
Less: Taxation credit
Total EBIT
Add: Normalisation adjustments (as detailed above)
Total normalised EBIT

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

179
437
101
366
(42)
1,041
–
–
–
–
1,041

736
444
86
269
(68)
1,467
30
38
(3)
65
1,532

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

179
366
(42)
503
–
503

736
269
(68)
937
65
1,002

Reconciliation from the NZ IFRS measure of profit for the period to Fonterra’s normalised earnings per share

Profit for the period 
Add: Normalisation adjustments (as detailed above)
Less: Tax on normalisation adjustments
Total normalised earnings
Less: Share attributable to non-controlling interests
Net normalised earnings attributable to equity holders of the Parent
Weighted average number of shares (thousands of shares)
Normalised earnings per share ($)

GROUP $ MILLION

31 JULY 2014

31 JULY 2013

179
–
–
179
(22)
157
1,597,834
0.10

736
65
(17)
784
(20)
764
1,615,311
0.47

86  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY

NON-GAAP MEASURES 
Fonterra refers to non-GAAP financial measures throughout the Annual Review, and these measures are not prepared in accordance with NZ 
IFRS. The definitions below explain how Fonterra calculates the non-GAAP measures referred to throughout the Annual Review.

Average net assets

Constant currency

is calculated as net interest bearing debt and total equity less deferred tax averaged over a rolling 13 month 
period.

means a measure that eliminates the effect of exchange rate movements. Constant currency variances are 
calculated by taking the current period financial measure in local currency less the prior period financial 
measure in local currency and dividing this by prior period financial measure in local currency using the prior 
period local currency to the New Zealand Dollar exchange rate.

Contribution margin

is calculated as segmental gross profit less distribution, selling and marketing expenses.

EBIT

means earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and is calculated as profit for the period before net finance costs 
and tax.

EBIT margin %

is calculated as profit for the period before net finance costs and tax and divided by revenue.

EBITDA

means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and is calculated as profit for the period 
before net finance costs, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Economic debt to debt plus 
equity ratio

is calculated as net interest bearing debt divided by net interest bearing debt plus equity. Net interest bearing 
debt includes the effect of debt hedging, and equity excludes the cash flow hedge reserve.

Farmgate Milk Price

means the base price that Fonterra pays for milk supplied to it in New Zealand for a season.  
The season refers to the 12 month milk season of 1 June to 31 May.

Net tangible assets

means total assets less total liabilities less intangible assets.

Normalisation adjustments

means transactions that are unusual by nature and size. Excluding these transactions can assist users with 
forming a view of the underlying performance of the business. Unusual transactions by nature are the 
result of a specific event or set of circumstances that are outside the control of the business, or relate to the 
major acquisitions or disposals of an asset/group of assets or business. It may also include certain fair value 
movements created by required accounting treatments, in particular if they are non-cash movements, and 
will have no impact on profit over time. Unusual transactions by size are those that are unusually large in a 
particular accounting period. Unusually large is defined as greater than $30 million.

Normalised EBIT

means profit for the period before net finance costs, tax and normalisation adjustments.

Normalised EBIT margin %

means profit for the period before net finance costs, tax and normalisation adjustments divided by revenue.

Normalised EBITDA

means profit for the period before net finance costs, tax, depreciation, amortisation and normalisation 
adjustments.

Normalised segment earnings means segmental profit for the period before depreciation, amortisation, net finance costs, taxation expense, 

and normalisation adjustments.

Payout

Retentions

means the total cash payment to farmer shareholders. It is the sum of the Farmgate Milk Price (kgMS) and the 
dividend per share. Both of these components have established policies and procedures in place on how these 
are determined.

means net profit after tax attributable to farmer shareholders divided by the number of shares at 31 May, less 
dividend per share.

Return on Capital Employed

means normalised EBIT divided by capital employed. Capital employed is calculated as monthly average net 
assets excluding net debt, derivatives, taxes, and investments (other than equity accounted investments).

Segment earnings

means segmental profit for the period before net finance costs, tax and normalisation adjustments.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

87

 
GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY
CONTINUED

OTHER TERMS 

Auditor

CO2e
Co-operative

DIRA

Dry shares

means PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditor of Fonterra and the Fund.

means greenhouse gas emissions, based upon accepted International Dairy Federation methodology.

means Fonterra.

means the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001 (New Zealand).

means any shares held by a farmer shareholder in excess of the number of shares required to be held by that 
farmer shareholder in accordance with the Minimum Shareholding requirement for a season. 

Economic Rights

means the interest in Shares held by the Fonterra Farmer Custodian for the benefit of the Trustee in its 
capacity as the trustee of the Fund as set out in the Custody Trust Deed.

Farmer shareholder

means a Shareholder who is supplying milk to Fonterra.

Farmgate Milk Price Manual

means Fonterra’s Farmgate Milk Price Manual dated 1 August 2013. 

Farmgate Milk Price Statement means the milk price statement with respect to the Farmgate Milk Price for a season, which Fonterra 
discloses pursuant to the Farmgate Milk Price Manual on or around the date that Fonterra releases its 
financial results for a financial year.

Fonterra

Fonterra Board

Fonterra Group 

FSF or the Fund

Foodservice

means Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited and, where relevant, includes the other members of the 
Fonterra Group.

means the Board of Directors of Fonterra.

means Fonterra and its subsidiaries.

means the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund.

means the business of preparing meals for consumption outside of homes.

FSM or Fonterra Shareholders’ 
Market

means the exchange or trading facility selected by Fonterra which provides a facility for the trading of shares 
among Permitted Persons.

FSM Rules

means the listing rules of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Market.

Fonterra Shareholders’ Council means the councillors whose number is not less than the required quorum set out in the Constitution, acting 

together as the Shareholders’ Council.

FY 

means Fonterra’s financial year which runs from 1 August to the following 31 July.

Greater China

means Fonterra’s business in China (including Hong Kong), Taiwan and India.

IFRS

means International Financial Reporting Standards.

Income Tax Act

means the Income Tax Act 2007 (New Zealand).

kgMS

means a kilogram of milk solids.

Milk Price Panel

means the Milk Price Panel established and maintained by Fonterra in accordance with section 150D of DIRA.

Milk solids

MT

NZ GAAP

Parent 

means the valued components of milk which are determined by the Fonterra Board from time to time.

means a metric tonne.

means generally accepted accounting practice in New Zealand.

means Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited.

RD1 or RD1 Limited 

mean Fonterra’s rural supplies retail business that operates in New Zealand.

Reference Commodity 
Products

means the commodity dairy products used in the calculation of the Farmgate Milk Price, which are currently 
Whole Milk Powder, Skim Milk Powder, Butter Milk Powder, Butter and Anhydrous Milk Fat. 

Season

Share Standard

means a period of 12 months to 31 May (or such other date as the Fonterra Board may specify from time to 
time) in each year.

means the number of shares a farmer shareholder is required from time to time to hold as determined in 
accordance with the Constitution, one share for each kilogram of milk solids obtainable from milk supplied 
to Fonterra by a farmer shareholder in the relevant season (excluding milk supplied on contract supply). 
The Fonterra Board may permit the Share Standard to be satisfied through the holding of both shares 
and vouchers.

88  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

Shareholder 

Stream returns

means a holder of shares.

means the different variable contribution margins that can be achieved by the different combinations of 
products and by-products that can be made from the available milk. These are usually calculated on a fixed 
‘bucket’ of milk for comparative purposes.

Trading Among Farmers or TAF  means the share trading system known as Trading Among Farmers.

Trust Deed

Trustee

Unit

Unitholder

UHT

V3

Voucher

Wet shares

means the trust deed dated 23 October 2012 constituting the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund between Fonterra, 
the Trustee and the Manager. 

means the trustee for the Fund, being The New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Limited and Trustees 
Executors Limited.

means a unit issued by the Manager of the Fund.

means a holder of units.

means fresh milk that is sterilised by heating it to very high temperatures. UHT milk does not require 
refrigeration.

means Fonterra’s growth strategy based on accelerating volume, value and velocity. 

means a certificate that is provided to a farmer shareholder upon transfer of the Economic Rights of a wet 
share to the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund in accordance with the Trust Deed. 

means any shares held by a farmer shareholder which are required to be held in accordance with the 
Minimum Shareholding requirement for a season.

FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 

89

 
REGISTERED OFFICE
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited 
Private Bag 92032 
Auckland 1010 
New Zealand

Fonterra Centre 
9 Princes Street 
Auckland Central 
Auckland 1010 
New Zealand

Phone +64 9 374 9000 
Fax +64 9 374 9001

AUDITORS 
PricewaterhouseCoopers 
Level 22, PwC Tower 
188 Quay Street 
Auckland 1142 
New Zealand

FARMER SHAREHOLDER AND 
SUPPLIER SERVICES
Freephone 0800 65 65 68

FONTERRA SHARES AND 
FSF UNITS REGISTRY
Computershare Investor Services 
Limited 
Private Bag 92119 
Auckland 1142 
New Zealand

Level 2, 159 Hurstmere Road 
Takapuna 
Auckland 0622 
New Zealand

CAPITAL NOTES REGISTRY
Link Market Services Limited 
PO Box 91976 
Auckland 1142 
New Zealand

Level 7, Zurich House 
21 Queen Street 
Auckland Central 1010 
New Zealand

INVESTOR RELATIONS ENQUIRIES
Phone +64 9 374 9000 
investor.relations@fonterra.com

www.fonterra.com

DIRECTORY

DIRECTORY

FONTERRA BOARD  
OF DIRECTORS
John Wilson
Malcolm Bailey
Ian Farrelly
Simon Israel 
David Jackson
David MacLeod
John Monaghan
Sir Ralph Norris
Blue Read
Nicola Shadbolt
Michael Spaans
Jim van der Poel
John Waller

FONTERRA  
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Theo Spierings
Lukas Paravicini
Jacqueline Chow
Pascal De Petrini
Maury Leyland
Johan Priem
Robert Spurway
Alex Turnbull
Kelvin Wickham

90  FONTERRA ANNUAL REVIEW 2014

This document is printed on an environmentally 
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from well managed and legally harvested forests, 
and manufactured under the strict ISO14001 
environmental management system.