| 37 T T Richard Loader Olam underway in Tokoroa The first stage of the facility is a spray-dryer, with the capacity to produce 45,000 tonnes of whole milk powder a year Olam Food Ingredients REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT In August of 2023, Olam Food Ingredients’ (OFI) new high-tech dairy processing facility in Tokoroa received its first milk supply from the region’s farmers, with the first export product of high-value whole milk powder delivered to wharf in November. Located in South Waikato, the heart of New Zealand’s dairy country, on an 11.4-hectare site, the facility took two years to complete, with GEA partnered as the primary contractor. The first stage of the facility is a spray-dryer, with the capacity to produce 45,000 tonnes of whole milk powder a year, exported for dessert, bakery, beverage, and confectionary products. At peak the facility processes a little over a million litres of milk each day at very high speeds, drawn from dairy farms in the South Waikato district. Operations Director Paul Rennie says the spray drying facility has established a solid foundation on the site, with planning for the next phase well advanced to meet a growing preference for the region’s farmers to become suppliers. “During the 2023 – 2024 season our milk collection had an average radius of 61 kilometres from the site. We’re now heading into the second season of milk acquisition which will see the facility full and there are indications that the radius is coming in. That tells me we did pretty well in the first season, commissioning and operating the plant, and listening to our farmers. The milk supply team has done a great job in terms of following up with the potential created through the first season.” Paul acknowledges that a key to OFI’s success was early discussions with farmers in the region and carefully listening to what they wanted from a milk processor. “Farmers wanted a genuine business partnership and they wanted the confidence that we would do what we said we would do. Partnering is about continuing to listen to what farmers want to achieve. We pay a competitive milk price, and advance rate. We’re very sensitive to the farmers need for cash flow, and that has become even more important in recent years.” ” Being part of a large multinational organisation, OFI is involved in a diverse array of activities around the world, including almond orchards across Australia, though mainly Victoria. “A by-product is the almond hulls and husks, which have been used as dairy feed, so we are in the process of setting up a supply chain bringing the by-product to New Zealand, which is a great circular reuse story. It can also lend itself to putting a methane inhibitor called Agolin in it, to help improve greenhouse gas performance. At this stage, it’s just a trial that we’re running with our OFI farmers and we will look to expand that within our farmer base in the coming season.” A strong partnership within the South Waikato community, has led to the establishment of a fund to provide community support, overseen by a governance group that includes farmers-suppliers, members of the local Tokoroa community, and the OFI team. Currently employing around 55 staff, of which 80% of the plant’s workforce are drawn from the South Waikato area, Paul says well over half the team are skilled process operators. ApexWater – OlamFood In June 2022 Apex Water was contracted to design and build the dairy factory wastewater treatment plant at Olam Food Ingredients’ new milk powder processing plant in Tokoroa. Wastewater generated through the daily cleaning processes at the milk plant contains fats, oil and grease before being processed through the wastewater treatment plant to remove contaminants like ammonia and nitrates. The wastewater is run through a state-of-the-art membrane bioreactor (MBR), then discharged to the South Waikato District Council’s wastewater treatment plant as trade waste. The water discharged from the MBR is very clear, and visually identical to drinking water. Apex commenced the design phase for the wastewater treatment plant immediately after being awarded the contract. “Design typically takes three months to complete,” says Apex’s Project Manager Kennedy Boakye. “We then commenced procurement, starting with the long lead time items. The civil work was outside of our project scope, and we were able to mobilise on site and commence construction April last year. Commissioning commenced August last year.” Apex Water refers to itself as an Engineering, Procurement and Construction business (EPC) and is unique in that it provides its clients with a total end-to-end service o ering. “We undertake the design of the system in-house, carry out all procurement and manage the overall construction of the plant (including civil, mechanical, electrical packages). We have our own in-house process and mechanical design expertise and don’t seek external design capability. That end-to-end service means the client is not having to deal with multiple parties and provides them with signi icant cost and time e iciencies. The client works with one person, who is mostly the Apex project manager, and most Apex project managers are engineers with expertise in that ield. We’re able to add real project value on the job. We test and commission the system, and partner with the client to provide long term training and ongoing operational expertise.” Kennedy says the real value of that end-to-end service was put to the test during the design phase of Olam’s wastewater treatment plant when a change was requested to where the wastewater was discharged to. “The initial plan was for the wastewater to be discharged to an irrigation pond owned by the client. Part way through the design process, the client requested that we explore options for the treated wastewater to be discharged to the South Waikato District Council’s wastewater treatment plant as trade waste. We were lexible enough to be able to adopt change and retro it the design with little impact to the programme.”
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