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.
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.
