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Proliant Health and Biologicals, known for producing purified protein ingredients for use in diagnostic, biotechnology, therapeutic and nutrition markets, launched its colostrum programme last week.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was on hand at Proliant’s Feilding plant along with some of the company’s 55 farmer suppliers.
Proliant chief executive Chris Detzel said despite colostrum not being part of the company’s strategy 18 months ago, it has quickly moved to take advantage of a rapidly growing global market and moved from concept to production readiness.
“Proliant believes colostrum represents a unique opportunity to improve human health while creating meaningful economic value within New Zealand,” Detzel said.
“The initiative transforms a valuable agricultural resource into a premium health ingredient sought by global nutrition markets. At the same time, it creates new revenue opportunities for farmers and supports New Zealand’s shift toward higher-value agricultural exports by turning raw dairy inputs into specialised products for global markets.”
Detzel said it would not have been possible without the investment and dedication of the farmers who will supply the colostrum.
“It is that sense of community that really helps drive our success in business. It’s the hard-work ethic. It’s the sense of willingness to help out whenever someone needs it. Those are really key characteristics of our team and of the parts of the community that we want to exist within. And so that’s also really how we, in couple short months, decided we wanted to try something out, try something new. And it’s farmers like James [Stewart, farmer-supplier] and other people that were invested in our success and helping us succeed.”
Luxon said Proliant’s story, as a United States company that has found a home in Feilding, is exactly what his government worked to allow.
“As a government, our job is to make sure we create the operating environment for people to set up an incredible business like this.”
This required the right overseas investment settings, fast-track approvals and a regulatory framework that incentivised investment and innovation.
“This is a great example of what international capital and great innovation can do.”