Open Country opens butter plant
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
Covid-19 is forecast to strip more than $1.3 billion dollars off New Zealand’s primary exports in the coming year, including $390 million off dairy exports.
Open Country Dairy chief executive Steve Koekemoer says so far the outbreak hasn’t impacted demand for its products.
“Our products have continued to move relative freely into market. “Clearly, we share the concern within the industry regarding ongoing disruption with availability of containers and potential restrictions at ports going forward.
“With us heading into the tail end of the season, we expect the short-term impact to be minor and with that are turning our focus to next season.”
Koekemoer says dairy pricing has come under pressure over the past few weeks due to the Covid-19 impact but with the limited supply due to the dry weather, OCD is maintaining its current forecast.
OCD will hold supplier meetings later this month where farmers will be updated on the impact of coronavirus.
