European Mozzarella

NZMP European Mozzarella is naturally made with only milk, starter culture, rennet and salt as the core ingredients.

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Milk supply from Western Europe

NZMP European Mozzarella is naturally made with only milk, starter culture, rennet and salt as the core ingredients. Only milk supplied from Western Europe (the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany) that complies with rigid Dutch quality standards is used to manufacture NZMP European Mozzarella. 

 

These Dutch quality standards include passing on-farm tests and Royal A-ware tests including foreign matter and composition tests.  Once the milk passes all tests and is standardized for protein and fat, and bacteria is removed alongside pasteurisation, the milk is ready to be used to make mozzarella.

 

Our European Mozzarella is designed to give you consistent performance 

Scientific evidence shows that European milk tends to have a flatter composition curve versus New Zealand. Fonterra has defined compositional and functional limits which products have to meet before being released into the market regardless of country origin.  

 

We use compositional control and functional testing to provide consistent performance. We also freeze our mozzarella at a consistent age to lock in optimum performance. Functional testing ensures that the products customers receive are performing to the expected NZMP standards.

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Europe's on-farm practises focus on animal welfare and the environment

Farmer walking with his cows in the grass

Strict Animal welfare standards

Europe and the Netherlands have strict animal welfare standards including those of the Dutch Dairy Association. 

Cow close up with an ear tag

Balanced diets for cows

Cows are fed a predominantly grass-based diet supplemented by grass silage in the winter.  This delivers a balanced diet throughout the year.

Grass closeup

Maximising time on pasture

Cows spend a minimum of 120 days on pasture and in the north 200 days. Additionally, cows are encouraged to graze at night time to increase time on pasture. 

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Royal A-ware: an ideal partner with 125 years of cheese experience  

Royal A-ware has 125 years of experience in the cheese industry. The term “Royal’ is only given to companies in the Netherlands which are over 100 years old.

Today Royal A-ware manufactures a range of cheeses and other dairy products with over 200 million kg of cheese sold annually in Europe and for export. 

Like Fonterra, Royal A-ware is committed to sustainability and on-farm practises that result in high-quality milk as well as strong animal welfare.  A-ware’s new state of the art mozzarella plant in Heerenveen will produce mozzarella to NZMP’s specifications using quality western European milk supply. 

Royal A-ware is committed to innovation

Royal A-ware works with customers and partners to develop a range of solutions that are demand-driven. As a family-owned independent business, there is a strong entrepreneurial and flexible mindset.

Fonterra has worked extensively with Royal A-ware over the last eighteen months to develop a range of customised mozzarella based on Fonterra’s IP combined with Royal A-ware’s knowledge. The range includes chilled, frozen, low salt and shredded products designed to deliver functional performance for end-users. 

Heerenveen meets the latest environmental practices 

The Heerenveen plant is a state of the art facility designed with the latest environmental standards. The A-ware mozzarella plant has international accreditations including BRC, IFS and FSSC22000.

 

  • The plant runs on electricity reducing the need for natural gas. 
  • 7,700 solar panels provide 15% of the energy production.
  • Lighting is 100% led lighting
  • 92% of heat from manufacturing processes is recovered around the site
  • Water from whey is reused as process water at the mozzarella plant

 

Find out more about our European Ingredients

We have specialised European expertise, focused on producing high quality, advanced ingredient solutions for Europe.

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