Is Fonterra selling up or selling out?

The impending sale of Fonterra’s extensive array of consumer brands moved a step closer on Thursday after chairman Peter McBride told farmer-shareholders attending the co-op’s AGM in New Plymouth that it could no longer justify investing in its consumer businesses that generate returns lower than their opportunity cost of capital, while also exposing farmers to more risk.
It has been a dramatic U-turn in strategy for New Zealand’s biggest exporter after decades of investment establishing iconic household dairy brands such as Anchor, Mainland, Kāpiti and Fernleaf.