New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-op’s performance in the 12 months to the end of July 2025 were described by CEO Miles Hurrell as one of the strongest years yet, in terms of shareholder returns.

The business announced a final dividend of NZ$0.35 (€0.17) taking the full year payout to NZ$0.57/share (€0.28), the highest ever.

Fonterra reported it had paid farmer suppliers NZ$15.3bn (€7.8bn) for their milk across the 2024/2025 season.

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The final farmgate milk price was NZ$10.16 (€5.03) per kgMS. The forecast price for the coming season is a broad range between NZ$9.00 - NZ$11.00 (€4.45-€5.44) per kgMS.

Expected deliveries

Total milk collected during the season was 2.6% higher at 1,509m kgMS. The co-op forecasts another small rise for the coming season, expecting deliveries to be around 1,525m kgMS

Hurrell said the result was driven by “higher operating profit in the ingredients business, due to demand for our protein portfolio and our use of margin hedging tools and indexed-based pricing”.

He added that the food service business volumes continued to grow due to continued demand from Greater China for high-value UHT cream, butter and mozzarella.

During the year, the co-op announced the agreement to sell its global consumer business to Lactalis. This decision is subject to a farmer vote on October 30 and certain other regulatory approvals.

Hurrell said that the co-op is “well prepared for the future and positioned to continue delivering positive returns to shareholders”.