- CEO
- Leon Fung
- Full Time Employees
- 556
- Sector
- Consumer non-durables
- Industry
- Food: meat/fish/dairy
- Address
- 1028 Heslerton Road Rakaia CA New Zealand 7783
- IPO Date
- Jul 23, 2013
- Business
- Synlait Milk Limited (SML.NZ) manufactures, processes, and markets a broad portfolio of dairy and plant-based nutritional products, including early life nutrition powders, base powders, and finished consumer-ready infant formula products; adult nutrition powders, ready-to-drink milk beverages, and specialized formulations; lactoferrin as a high-purity bioactive ingredient; foodservice items such as ready-to-drink milk beverages, drinking yoghurts, UHT cream, cheese products, and anhydrous milk fat; and standard and specialized dairy ingredients comprising whole milk powder, skim milk powder, milk powder blends with varying heat treatments, instantising, and UHT grades. The company operates state-of-the-art facilities in Dunsandel and Auckland for manufacturing, blending, canning, and packaging, with additional sites in Pokeno, a research and development center in Palmerston North, and offices in Beijing and Shanghai; it serves multinational brands, infant formula producers, foodservice operators including bakeries, cafes, and beverage chains, and manufacturers across China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, and the European Union. Founded in 2000 through the acquisition of its first dairy farm and transitioning to processing by 2008, Synlait Milk Limited is headquartered in Rakaia, New Zealand, and maintains dairy farming operations alongside its core processing activities. In recent developments, the company returned to profitability in the first half of fiscal 2025 with a NZ$4.8 million profit after a significant prior-year loss, supported by revenue growth to NZ$917 million, cost reductions, debt cut by 29% to NZ$392 million, and financial rescues from major shareholders Bright Dairy (39% ownership) and a2 Milk Company (19% ownership); it appointed Richard Wyeth as CEO in May 2025 following an acting CEO period, finalized bank refinancing in September 2025, increased its 2025/26 milk price forecast, and entered a definitive agreement in September 2025 to sell its North Island assets—including the Pokeno manufacturing facility, Auckland blending, canning, warehousing operations, and inventory—to Abbott for approximately NZ$307 million to strengthen its balance sheet and refocus on core South Island operations.