The plant will produce more than three billion cheese slices for McDonald’s and other fast food companies around the world.

Robert Spurway, Fonterra’s managing director of global operations, said the new line would help the company be more responsive to customer requirements.

“Each customer has slightly different requirements and uses for the cheese and this additional capacity will allow us to meet more than 350 different specifications,” he said.

Speed test

“McDonald’s test us on how quickly they can peel the cheese off the block,” he continued. “Our ability to consistently provide above their brand standard of quality is what makes us their preferred supplier.”

The plant is capable of producing 3.5t per hour. There are 70,000t of cheese manufactured at the plant for export to 50 countries.