Sector manager supports skills development in dairy manufacturing industry
3 July 2025
With a decade of dairy manufacturing experience under his belt, Primary ITO sector manager Alwyn Redhead is passionate about supporting the industry to develop and upskill its workforce.
Based in Timaru, Alwyn oversees a small team of Primary ITO Training Advisers across the country who work with employers to identify the training needs of staff, enrol and support learners throughout their training. Customers range from the larger corporate manufacturers through to smaller niche operations making a wide range of specialty products including milk powder, infant formula powder, cheese, ice-cream, yoghurt and much more.
As sector manager, a significant part of Alwyn’s role is working closely with employers to identify new opportunities for training, while ensuring that existing training programmes are meeting the needs of industry.
“We have very good relationships with our customers,” Alwyn says, “and our team makes a real effort to reach the smaller operators out there to make sure they are aware of our training and the benefits it provides.”
After growing up in Timaru, Alwyn travelled overseas before returning to New Zealand and becoming qualified as a green keeper. He went on to run a landscaping business in Timaru for several years, before deciding to go back to his roots as a greenkeeper.
Always open to new opportunities, Alwyn landed a role at Fonterra where he was involved in packing and moving product onto pallets, ready for distribution. He moved into a role producing speciality mozzarella cheese, before working his way up to become shift supervisor. Later, he supported staff completing the New Zealand Certificate in Dairy Processing through Primary ITO.
During his ten years at Fonterra Alwyn took the opportunity to upskill and complete a dairy diploma to expand his knowledge of the dairy manufacturing industry.
In 2023, Alwyn joined Primary ITO as sector manager for dairy processing. He had worked with the ITO while at Fonterra, and he and a manager had put forward the idea of developing entry-level engineering training for dairy operators.
“A highlight has been seeing that idea come from industry and be developed by Primary ITO into the New Zealand Certificate in Dairy Processing Engineering, launched earlier this year. It has been really satisfying to see that idea come to life.”
The New Zealand Certificate in Dairy Engineering Level 3 is an online training programme that gives operators a greater understanding of the equipment they are working with. It covers the principles of automation, monitoring instrumentation, diagnostics for electrical faults, identifying risks of failure, and routine maintenance.
Alwyn says it is critical that operators have a solid understanding of the equipment they are working on to prevent costly downtime, production delays and quality issues.
More recently Alwyn has collaborated with the meat processing sector to develop food processing qualifications for people working in dairy and meat processing, such as the newly launched Food Processing Foundational Micro-credential, which is ideal for entry-level staff across the food processing sector.
These new qualifications sit alongside the New Zealand Certificate and Apprenticeship qualifications in Dairy Processing, which focus on day-to-day tasks and processes, food safety and quality requirements, production, and working in a team.
Alwyn is passionate about helping people to develop and upskill.
Sign your staff into apprenticeship training with Primary ITO and access up to $6,000 through the government's Apprenticeship Boost subsidy for first year apprentices. Invest in the skills of your team today - find information on our diary processing programmes here.