Opinion divided
OPINION: Boutique milk company Lewis Road Creamery’s latest offering to mark Matariki is unfairly facing heat from certain quarters of Māoridom, who are opposed to any commercialisation of all things Māori.
New Zealand's dairy industry has many success stories; hard work, R&D and sacrifice have paid off for innovators and entrepreneurs.
This month the industry celebrates two such stories: the development of a cow breed that will produce more milk in tropical climates, and organic chocolate milk that is taking the domestic market by storm.
Dairy Solutionz Ltd, Hamilton, has led an expert genetics team to develop a cow that thrives in lower-altitude tropical climates and achieves high milk production under heat stress. Soon these cows will be milked on large-scale farms in the US, Colombia and Ecuador.
Earlier this year, research by Serdal Dikmen and the University of Florida pointed to 2L/day improved milk yield per animal through better heat tolerance. Multiply this increase over a large or national herd and the end result is a whopper.
Since 2007 Dairy Solutionz has worked with international partners to design and integrate best-of-breed technologies into its large-scale offshore pastoral farms. Their hard work is paying off.
For the small dairy company Lewis Road Creamery it took only two years to hit the sweet spot. Its fresh chocolate milk is said to be flying off the shelves in supermarkets and boutique stores. Its key ingredients are organic milk and Whittakers chocolate.
Consumer demand is phenomenal. This small company works 24/7 pumping out the product, each week consuming 3000kg of Whittaker’s five roll-refined creamy milk chocolate and 24,000L of milk.
Security guards are monitoring supermarket fridges containing the product and customers are queueing to buy it.
One Auckland supermarket operator says his stocks have run out every day since it was launched: 500 bottles delivered each morning were selling out within 90 minutes.
He’s immensely surprised, says the retailer. “We’ve had some pretty good product launches in the past but this takes the cake.”
Since dairy is New Zealand’s top industry it needs continuing innovation along the whole value chain to anchor it, and the New Zealand economy, in position.
Dairy Solutionz and Lewis Road Creamery are two shining examples of this.
Fonterra has cemented its position as the country’s number one cheesemaker by picking up nine NZ Champion of Cheese trophies this year.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.