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 general manager sales and marketing John Powell says the specialised added value business is at the heart of the co-op’s success story. Last season Tatua announced a final payout before retention of $10.32/kgMS, well ahead of other processors.
Powell says last year’s record performance isn’t something that happens overnight. “It’s a combination of decades of investment and a long term commitment to the business model,” he told Rural News.
“Tatua decided long ago that it would not compete on scale with the whole milk powder big guys; it wasn’t a strategy that was going to work for us. Rather than invest in scale, we had to invest in value; for us it’s about adding more value to milk as opposed to processing more milk.”
Three years ago Tatua built a new foods plant, and a $65 million specialised ingredients dryer will be commissioned in April next year.
Powell says Tatua’s business model now is unlike most other dairy companies in the world. Comparing it to other dairy companies is now becoming less and less relevant, he says.
For example, in the foodservice business, unlike most other local dairy processors, Tatua doesn’t focus on UHT milk. “We leave that to the big guys,” says Powell. “We focus on specialised UHT products – thick, viscous products that can’t go through a standard UHT plant.” Such products include mascarpone, crème fraiche and cheese sauces.
Tatua is happy to focus on specialised niche markets, “not markets that the big guys like to chase”.
To achieve this Tatua has committed to many years of investment in customer relationships, R&D, specialised manufacturing capability and developing people.
