Continuing our TAP geographical investigation of interconnection between places and spaces and exploring trade between regions and countries, our Year 5/6 students undertook a field trip to the Fonterra site in Cobden. Warmly welcomed by Andrew Westlake, the Business Improvement Lead, and his team, the students were introduced to various production areas and saw how the raw product moved through the site to be processed, wrapped, packed and ready for transport across Australia or overseas. In the Western Star Room, Joel explained that milk had been produced on this site for over 120 years and it was one of the oldest dairy companies in the world with a purpose driven goal of making good food safely. Products processed at Cobden included bottled milk and cream, a variety of spreads, butters and blends including Western Star and a range of milk powdered products by a staff of 300 people. At the Farm Milk Collection area, Robyn showed students the fleet of tankers that collected approximately 6 million litres and drove over 33,000km a week to bring product back to Cobden. Students met mechanics at the truck workshop and learnt about the range of careers in transport and maintenance. At the Beverages plant, Caitlin showed students the technology involved in bottling milk and cream and the emphasis on testing product to ensure food safety. She described the increase in automation to improve production efficiencies and make the work environment safe for the staff that worked in those areas with over 330,000 litres of milk bottled everyday. Brett introduced students to the powder and butter production areas with butter packed for a range of products from 8 grams sachets to 25kg blocks. We learnt that the this milk powder packaged in the robot cell was used as reconstituted milk across the globe, for cooking products and used in some of the world's most famous chocolate bars. Fonterra Cobden generously provided a tub of Western Star spreadable butter and a jar of cream to our students that was sure to be the topic of many dinner table conversations that night! Comments are closed.
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