Business South October 2020

32 | DAIRY INDUSTRY Oceania Dairy Oceania is owned by Chinese dairy manufacturer, Yili Group, and predominantly produces infant formula. Agstaff is the leading supplier of staff to the primary industries, specialising in horticulture, agriculture, food production, and manufacturing recruitment. Our national team work seasonally and throughout the country, making sure you are equipped with the staff you need when you need them. • Drug tested • Ministry of Justice checked • Committed to health and safety • Pre-inducted to your business Our candidates are 0800 155 669 · Bulk Liquid Waste Removal & Disposal · High pressure Waterblasting · Closed Circuit TV Inspections · Drain Cleaning & Unblocking · Vacuum Sweeping · Farm Waste Management · Mobile Amenity Units For Hire · Qualified Staff - Height/Confined Spaces · Traffic Management Proud to support Oceania Dairy Drives and Control Products Empower your business with pro itable e iciency For more information, please visit new.abb.com/drives or call us on 0800 464 222. A special thank you to Oceania Dairy Ltd & Westland Milk Products for their continued support. Hi-tech operation at cutting edge Richard Loader T he Oceania Dairy Plant is far from what many people expect a traditional dairy factory to look like. Located near Glenavy, on the boarder of South Canterbury and North Otago, Oceania Dairy is a highly sophisticated operation utilis- ing state-of-the-art technology to drive once labour-intensive and manual processes. Oceania’s former General Manager, Richard Hickson, says that whenever there was an Open Day at the site, visitor reaction was always ‘Oh wow, we didn’t expect to see this.’ “People who don’t know a lot about the dairy industry think of a milk processing plant as a factory like a meat works. “But it’s actually closer to the pharmaceu- tical or oil and gas industries than any other industry that I am aware of. “Our production staff are generally based in control rooms operating computers and running highly automated and complex equipment.” Richard explains that Oceania is owned by large Chinese dairy manufacturer, Yili Group, and predominantly produces infant formula— all of which is currently exported to China. “We are in the business of feeding babies. Our quality control and food safety just has to be first class, so we can’t have people coming into direct contact with the product itself - pro- duction has to be automated.” Employing over 300 people at the plant, projected to reach 400 by year’s end, Oceania is a significant employer in the region, with over 90% of roles more technical in nature and very few manual labour roles. Richard, who joined Oceania in 2013 when the senior leadership team was put together, says re- cruitment of staff was challenging from the start. to page 34