8 | Palmerston North: Fonterra Research and Development Centre City home to cutting edge research T Karen Phelps Mark Piper: “Food has evolved over many years from a simple energy source.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Palmerston North is a great location for Fonterra to make world-leading discoveries, says Fonterra Research and Development Centre (FRDC) Head of Innovation Mark Piper. “Palmerston North has a very diverse local community and Fonterra is a microcosm of that with more than 40 different nationalities on site. We certainly have no trouble attracting people internationally to come to Palmerston North,” he says. With a team of around 350, including some who are recognised as world leaders in their field, FRDC is at the cutting edge of dairy research globally. Founded in 1927 as the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute, FRDC is one of the largest research facilities in the world dedicated to dairy and its team offers over 4,500 years of combined dairy experience resulting in around 350 patents to date. Mark says that FRDC is heavily involved with organisations in Palmerston North, which help accelerate its own goals. Fonterra is an investor in Palmerston North based Sprout Agritech, which helps to fund food tech and agritech start-ups. It is part of Food HQ, (with Mark Piper as Chair), that helps connect New Zealand companies in to food science. It is closely connected with Massey University and the Riddet Institute – the centre of research excellence based at Massey University. It’s no surprise then that FRDC has a long history of world-leading innovation. The first major breakthrough was around cheese manufacture when two scientists from New Zealand discovered phage (a world first) – a virus that kills the cultures used to make cheese. This enabled the world to make better cheeses. In the 1960’s a team of clever engineers developed the Cheddarmaster to enable more automation and continuous processing of cheese. This revolutionised cheese making the world over. In the 70’s spreadable butter was launched and also assisted in the understanding of fat fractionation more, which subsequently led us to the new value products Fonterra is working on today with lipids. “We can now make mozzarella that can go from milk to mozzarella that is quick frozen and ready to go on pizza toppings within a day, from the previous up to four months it used to take,” says Mark citing just one example. A recent example is the work FRDC is doing around methane reduction with a product called Kowbucha, a probiotic designed to reduce methane creation in cows. Trials are currently being conducted with cows at Massey University farms with testing by AgResearch at Palmerston North. “From our huge bank of probiotics we have identified the ones that would have the greatest chance of impacting methane creation. Lab based trials has shown up to a 50% reduction in methane in a controlled environment. Now we are conducting trials to identify how this might play out in animals in their natural environment. It could really be a game changer – not just in New Zealand but globally and all being led right out of Palmerston North.” Mark stresses any areas of research conducted by Fonterra to reduce methane, key criteria will include that it must be good for the animals and the farmers, ensure stringent quality and safety measures for the resulting products, achieve real results and be scalable. Partnering with other institutions and corporations globally is also seeing Fonterra fast-tracking its global innovation. It is working with Vitakey at present, co-founded by Moderna founder Robert Langer. Fonterra is bringing to the table its expertise in nutrition and collaborating with Vitakey’s knowledge of pharmaceutical drug delivery to see if together a probiotic product can be developed that will be targeted to release optimally in the human body. Last year Fonterra released its long-term strategy where it identified a strategic choice to be a leader in dairy innovation and science. “Food has evolved over many years from a simple energy source. When we look to our markets, we know the world’s population is growing and getting older. People are more aware than ever of the links between nutrition and health, and they are taking more interest in their immunity, cognition and mental health,” explains Mark. He says that Fonterra is seeing that some types of food, and in particular dairy, could help with the answer to many of life’s current challenges. With Covid-19 the trend towards health and wellness has accelerated globally. “People are also a lot more interested in nutrition and health, wanting to look after themselves in the best way possible.” He says sustainability is obviously a key pillar for Fonterra and there are two key areas FRDC is focusing on – methane reduction and a drive towards having packaging that is recyclable, reusable or compostable. “Fonterra in Palmerston North is the home of nearly 100 years of innovation. We’re well regarded across the world for our knowledge in dairy nutrition, protein and unlocking its benefits. It’s vital we explore, and as applicable harness, developing technologies, business models, products and solutions to stay at the forefront and meet the needs of our customers and consumers globally.” Quality outcomes every time DWYERtech Services Ltd is a supplier of technical and trade services to a variety of commercial industries. 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