Fonterra launches Farm Source to support dairy regions in New Zealand

New Zealand-based multinational dairy company Fonterra is rolling out Farm Source to help farmers and their farming businesses.

By combining service, support, rewards, digital technology and financial options for farmers, together with local Farm Source hubs, Farm Source will help in supporting the cooperative’s connection with the New Zealand rural communities.

Farm Source was launched from Fonterra’s first Farm Source hub in Methven, which is a new community asset that combines rural supplies with a drop-in lounge for farmers and facilities, including meeting rooms and a home base for Fonterra’s regional on-farm support team.

Fonterra chairman John Wilson said: "We have been talking to our farmers a lot about what we can do to further support them and their businesses. We challenged ourselves to come up with ways we could get in behind them as only a cooperative of our strength can do.

"Co-ops have always been about unity and collective strength and we have a lot of both. This is about putting it to work for our farmers so we all benefit. With Farm Source we are taking our relationship with our farmers to a whole new level through connected services and support systems developed for them."

Elaborating on the concept, Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings said: "It is not a programme or a collection of benefits. Farm Source is about connecting farmers with the full strength of our cooperative. Ultimately, we see Farm Source as setting the benchmark when it comes to supporting farmers and providing exclusive benefits beyond the milk price.

"Farm Source is about working together to grow and succeed together and to reach our ambition of global relevance. We want to access a 30 billion litre global milk pool by 2025. Farm Source starts here in New Zealand. We will also look to adopt it in other markets where we are growing our milk pools, tailoring it for those local markets."

As part of the initial Farm Source hub launch, the company is offering farmers with nearly 71 hubs within 25km of 90% of Fonterra farms, which will provide them with a home base in their local communities. There will also be rewards to bring down the cost of farm services.

Loyal farmers will be able to share profit from the hub. It will also provide various online offers and easy digital ways for the farmers to manage their business, as well as financial tools to help them manage their finances and investments.