Tatua's just too-good
OPINION: Earlier this month, small Waikato milk processor Tatua reminded the country that it’s still number one when it comes to paying farmers for their milk.
Tatua's milk pool may have fallen, but the co-op is still topping the payout stakes.
The co-op is in no hurry to grow its milk pool; last year it produced 14.7 million kgMS, about 1.8% down from the previous year.
Tatua this month released its annual results and once again the co-op topped the payout stakes, paying suppliers $8.10/kgMS after retaining 52c/kgms for reinvestment
Milk flow this season has been strong: July was down 1.7%, August 4.1% but September supply rose by 3.9%, October is also tracking very well and supply to date this season is up 2%.
Tatua exports 95% of its products; about 50% of exports are bulk ingredients (caseinates, whey protein concentrate and anhydrous milk fat) and the remaining 50% are value-added products like specialty nutritional ingredients and bionutrients.
Tatua Dairy chief executive, Brendhan Greaney says fat prices continue to hold up; with milk fat price paid in the US and Europe still higher than NZ prices there’s scope for further increases.
He says Tatua’s value-added business is growing well and it doesn’t rely on the milk curve. It gets enough milk to turn into bulk ingredients.
Tatua buys both dairy and non-dairy raw materials from NZ and overseas to batch them into specialised ingredients.
The co-op enjoys a good relationship with other NZ dairy processors.
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