New Zealand-based dairy cooperative Fonterra has launched a Global Dairy Trade (GDT) platform, allowing traders to buy and sell dairy products throughout the year.
Fonterra global ingredients managing director Kelvin Wickham said that the new GDT platform facilitates additional sales channel for NZMP Ingredients, besides meeting the rising demand in the dairy market for online business-to-business transactions.
The new service is intended to complement GDT's current offerings.
Kelvin Wickham was quoted by Foodingredientsfirst.com as saying: "E-commerce is increasingly seen as convenient and open for business whenever customers want to make purchases. Dairy is no exception.
"Online trading is ideal for customers purchasing smaller volumes who want convenience and availability at a time that suits them. We see this as an opportunity to grow our sales both with existing customers and as an ideal way to reach new customers over time."
Initially, the dairy company plans to offer a limited range of ingredients on the GDT platform for the 2016-17 season. It plans to increase its offerings depending upon on a rise in customer demands. The offerings on the platform will not include product specifications already sold on GDT Events.
Kelvin Wickham was quoted by the publication as saying: "Direct transactions with customers account for the majority of Fonterra's sales and this will continue.
"Many of our major customers look to us to combine both ingredients and services which create value for them and for us. This is best achieved through our global network and the relationships our people build with our customers."