increase font size
NEWS THAT Miraka has signed a multimillion-dollar, joint-venture deal with Shanghai Pengxin to produce UHT milk shows how smart our small, entrepreneurial companies can be.
Let’s take nothing away from the great work Fonterra and its predecessor the NZ Dairy Board have done; New Zealand needs them. But the Miraka deal shows the value of these innovators. In just two years Miraka has set up a joint venture with the biggest dairy company in Vietnam, Vinamilk, and is shipping product to many parts of the globe.
It has a waiting list of suppliers which speaks volumes. This latest deal with Shanghai Pengxin shows that big overseas international companies have faith and confidence in some of our niche providers.
The Miraka deal is timely in other ways. It comes just days after an MPI report which highlights the potential of Maori agriculture: $8 billion dollars if Maori land was managed to its potential.
Miraka is showing what can be done; so are many other Maori trusts – role models for Maori and pakeha farmers. Take PKW in Taranaki, Fonterra’s biggest milk supplier in the region, producing upwards of three million kgMS/year. And dozens of other trusts and incorporations are worthy of mention.
The example of Miraka and its trusts should inspire others to follow suit and we would hope Miraka will share knowledge to lift the performance of others.
The challenge for Miraka, as with all successful small companies, is to retain competitive advantage. It must also keep fostering the ‘personal touch’ – workers in tune with managers and leaders to achieve company goals. Miraka has a strong company culture and the positive spirit of the workforce is evident when you visit their plant.
Being small and successful is not easy; hopefully Miraka can continue to do deals and retain a ‘family’ culture.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
OPINION: Farmers are rightly urging the Government to relax the rules around KiwiSaver and allow young farmers to use their savings towards purchasing either a house, cows or a farm.
OPINION: Over the past 25 years growing wine, Jonathan Hamlet has seen "a massive evolution" in the care taken in vineyards.
OPINION: Foreign policy is a real strength of Winston Peter and this is recognised by Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) officials who, so the story goes, wanted him in his present role because of his experience in that field.
OPINION: People have criticised Christopher Luxon for the time he’s taken to appoint a new chief science advisor.
Fieldays 2025 opens this week with organisers saying the theme, 'Your Place', highlights the impact the event has on agriculture both in the Southern Hemisphere and across the globe.
Sam Carter, assistant manager for T&G's Pakowhai Sector, has been named the Hawke's Bay 2025 Young Grower of the Year.
The CEO of Apples and Pears NZ, Karen Morrish, says the strategic focus of her organisation is to improve grower returns.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
