The UK's days of cosy dairy trading relationship with New Zealand as an offshore farm' are set to change over the next five years as the antipodean dairy industry moves from an exclusively manufacturing based business to a trading one. Part of the change is linked to the £4m investment programme announced for NZ Milk's Swindon plant. "After a full review, we decided that it's still a good strategic site for our yellow fats business in the UK," said Tim Gibson, managing director of New Zealand Milk ­ Europe. A key change to the focus of the trading relations in Europe is the sourcing of local product for non-butter lines, such as Anchor Spreadable. UK yellow fats are the immediate target for NZ Milk in the short to medium term. At the moment, the dairy industry is worth £2.6bn to the NZ economy. The targets are ambitious ­ 15% year on year growth for the next five years, with a 15 year target of more than four times the current level. If Europe ever thought that New Zealand would settle for any crumbs EU member states chose to let drop from the table, that thinking belonged in the last century. Europe accounts for about 15% of NZ dairy exports: 200,000 tonnes of product earning NZ$825 m. And relations with the European industry are "much improved" says Gibson. "We're very much a part of the fabric of the European industry now." The reason is simple. With a limited domestic milk pool and growing markets closer to home, it will be more profitable for the Kiwis to build a trading presence in the European dairy market through strategic partnerships than to rely on product shipped from NZ. This also sidesteps any quota issues ­ and is set to become part of a global strategy of partnership rather than a made in New Zealand' sales drive. {{PROVISIONS }}