Fonterra welcomes New Zealand’s Minister of Agriculture to Vietnam
Ahead of the upcoming 45th anniversary celebration between Vietnam and New Zealand, Minister Damien O’Connor, Secretary of Commerce, Export, Agriculture and Food Safety New Zealand made a special trip to Ho Chi Minh City.
During his trip, he had the opportunity to meet with major Vietnamese and New Zealand companies including Fonterra, to understand their business and promote cooperation between two countries.
In the last four decades, the relationship between Vietnam and New Zealand has grown tremendously and both countries have enjoyed good diplomatic relations with each other.
Minister Damien O’Connor, Secretary of Commerce, Export, Agriculture and Food Safety New Zealand
With their continued mutual partnership, the two nations are on the right track to grow from a comprehensive partnership to a strategic one.
Growing the New Zealand - Vietnam relationship
Often dubbed one of Southeast Asia’s new growth frontiers, Vietnam is one of the most rapidly expanding emerging economies in the world. Though dairy consumption per capita is much lower than in other ASEAN countries, there is growing demand for high protein foods such as dairy, driven by greater affluence. In the FY17 financial year, Vietnamese enjoyed the equivalent of 240 million glasses of Fonterra milk – this means every day more than 659,000 glasses of Fonterra milk are consumed across the country.
“Vietnam has always been an important market for the Co-op and one where we have enjoyed long history in. We’ve been supplying ingredients to Vietnamese customers for more than 40 years and have been operating our consumer brands business in the country for more than two decades,” said Linda Tan, General Manager at Fonterra Brands Vietnam.
We’ve been supplying ingredients to Vietnamese customers for more than 40 years and have been operating our consumer brands business in the country for more than two decades.
A cake with a special significance
During his visit, Minister O'Connor also participated in a Fonterra "Test Kitchen" programme where he prepared a kiwi cheesecake with ingredients from Vietnam and New Zealand alongside Fonterra’s Anchor Food Professionals chefs.
Anchor Food Professionals is the number one foodservice brand in Vietnam and the team is focussed on innovation and providing dairy solutions to more than 1,700 food and beverage establishments.
“We are honoured to have Minister O’Connor in our kitchen during his visit to Vietnam and to commemorate this special occasion, we have created a unique recipe which combines traditional flavours from both nations.
This cake is made from New Zealand's unique ingredients, such as milk, dairy products and kiwifruit, combined with ingredients from Vietnam such as coconut powder and crusted cookies,” commented Chef Bertrand.
Minister Damien O’Connor, Secretary of Commerce, Export, Agriculture and Food Safety New Zealand New Zealand alongside Fonterra’s Anchor Food Professionals chefs