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Anchor UHT milk being loaded at Fonterra depot in Hastings for delivery by road and air to Hawke’s Bay residents last week.
An amazing community effort kept Anchor Milk and other dairy products flowing to Hawke's Bay residents in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.
With other milk company depots under water it was left to the farmer-owned co-operative and the Hawke's Bay Anchor franchisees to keep deliveries going.
Electricity was out, so fresh milk wasn't always an option. Enter Anchor franchisees for the region, Vaughan Petzer and Neil Cahill and their team.
Working closely with Fonterra Brands NZ staff, Petzer has been receiving and delivering ultra heat treated (UHT) milk, grated cheese, yoghurt, flavoured milk, infant formula and even bacon and eggs to the Hawke's Bay community.
In the days after the floods, Fonterra Brands sourced eight pallets (8 tonnes) of UHT milk for delivery to stricken Hawke's Bay residents with the help of Civil Defence and Rapid Relief Team (RRT).
Petzer told Dairy News that the real heroes are his staff who just kept going day and night for the first week, community volunteers, the New Zealand Civil Defence, RTT and Fonterra Brands NZ, plus the other local and national businesses that donated time, energy and product.
"They are some real heroes out there," he says.
"Despite everything, the community came together and pitched in to help us overcome the challenges.
“There was one man who had lost everything; his family was rescued from the rooftop of their house a day earlier.
“He was out the next day making coffee and toasties for everyone, at no charge.
“It was inspiring to see how the community had stepped up.”
Petzer says he woke up on the morning of Tuesday February 14 to find his home and depot in Hastings without power and water.
He managed to “commandeer” a big generator for the depot.
Petzer gave two refrigerated Anchor delivery trucks and a Fonterra delivery van to Civil Defence and joined volunteers at the collection centre.
He says it was all part of a great team effort.
Petzer says Fonterra Brands staff played their role by sourcing milk and other products from around the North Island for the region.
He also thanked businesses in the region for supporting the effort.
“Because we were busy providing support to civil defence, Aged Care and evacuation centres, we couldn’t deliver milk and products to some retailers who managed to stay open,” he says.
“They were happy to come down to our depot and collect products themselves.
“We had a customer at our depot every six minutes. There were a few supermarket owners who came down to collect milk to service their communities. In my view, such people from our communities and helping organisations are the real heroes.”
If there was a silver lining in the tragedy that was Cyclone Gabrielle, for New Zealand Young Grower of the Year, Grace Fulford, it was the tremendous sense of community and seeing first-hand what good leadership looks like.
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The Good Carbon Farm has partnered with Tolaga Bay Heritage Charitable Trust to deliver its first project in Tairāwhiti Gisborne.
A large Māori-owned kiwifruit business that was badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle has bounced back with a vengeance.
Acclaimed fruit grower Dean Astill never imagined he would have achieved so much in the years since being named the first Young Horticulturist of the Year, 20 years ago.
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
