The Fonterra dairy co-operative has been ranked the world's biggest milk processor in an international survey.
Research company International Farm Comparison Network ranked 600 milk processors in more than 70 countries.
Fonterra processed a greater annual volume of milk than competitors such as Dairy Farmers of America and Nestle.
The dairy co-operative's 10,500 New Zealand farmer-shareholders supply 80% of the company's milk, which is processed into more than two million tonnes of export products a year. The remaining 20% comes from overseas.
Fonterra is also the world's biggest dairy exporter, but while it processes more milk than anyone else, it still accounts for less than 3% percent of the total world milk market.
