increase font size
Oceania Dairy is issuing measures to keep staff well and the factory running.
South Canterbury milk processor Oceania Dairy Ltd is issuing measures to keep staff well and the factory running in the face of rising demand from China.
The company has stopped all non-critical travel for staff and is trialling work-from-home measures where possible following recent developments in the spread of Covid-19.
Oceania general manager Richard Hickson said as a direct employer of up to 400 people from the South Canterbury and North Otago region, Oceania was strongly aware of its responsibilities to keep people well and remain employed.
“We’re a young and innovative company and we’re proud of the fact that we are an important employer for many of our community. But this event is unprecedented in New Zealand and so we are moving quickly each day to adapt in order to keep everyone well and employed,’’ Hickson said.
Hickson said the company was extremely proud of the way all its staff had been working together to support each other, Oceania’s suppliers and the extended Oceania community.
“We know how much our employees depend on us, but we also appreciate how much the larger community, including our suppliers and contractors, rely on us for their livelihood,’’ he said.
Oceania staff are also being asked to restrict travel in their own time to avoid spread of the infection and to advise the company if they have travelled, while non-essential visits to the Glenavy site have also been halted.
The measures come at a time when demand for Oceania’s products remains strong in the face of rising demand from China with minimal disruption to supply chains.
Hickson said this was a stressful time for everyone in the community and staff at ODL were able to access free counselling if they needed to.
Since the start of the outbreak, Oceania Dairy has requested all staff to self-isolate following overseas travel to known areas of the outbreak. Staff have also been asked to identify if they have a close relationship with someone who has recently returned from overseas or has been identified as having Covid-19.
The company has introduced a range of measures which will be reviewed daily subject to Ministry of Health advice.
OPINION: Welcome to the second annual NZ Dairy Expo at Matamata – an event created to bring together the best of the New Zealand dairy industry in a focused, grassroots environment where dairy farmers and rural professionals can meet, talk, compare products, and make smart decisions for their farms.
It's a bloody tough year for sheep farmers, but the worst may be over, and the future looks optimistic.
One of the country’s two largest supermarket chains is reporting that for the first time since the disruption of Covid, they have largely full supply on almost all fruit and vegetables grown locally.
Covid-19 took global shipping rates to mind boggling highs, but over the subsequent 12-15 months they returned to more sustainable levels. Fast forward to July 2024 and rates have nearly doubled over three months.
Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) chief executive Nadine Tunley says the industry-good body’s support for growers has proven to be multifaceted.
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
Two high producing Canterbury dairy farmers are moving to blended stockfeed supplements fed in-shed for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to boost protein levels, which they can’t achieve through pasture under the region’s nitrogen limit of 190kg/ha.
Buoyed by strong forecasts for milk prices and a renewed demand for dairy assets, the South Island rural real estate market has begun the year with positive momentum, according to Colliers.
The six young cattle breeders participating in the inaugural Holstein Friesian NZ young breeder development programme have completed their first event of the year.
New Zealand feed producers are being encouraged to boost staff training to maintain efficiency and product quality.
OPINION: The world is bracing for a trade war between the two biggest economies.
