Dairy goat co-op on the up

"We now export to 20 countries, and sales in Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Thailand and Korea keep growing at record levels," co-op chief executive Dave Stanley told a recent meeting of the Waikato branch of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Science.

When Stanley started with the co-op, in 1993, he was the only employee. Now there are 100, and turnover tops $100m/year from four plants in Hamilton drying, blending and canning product.

"Our plants are state-of-the-art, and farmers are hugely impressed when we take them round the sites."

Stanley says the co-op has deliberately kept a low profile as, compared to bovine dairy, it's still a niche market.

"But despite producing a comparatively high priced product for infant food, our customers, particularly in Asia, seem prepared to pay for it in increasing numbers."

Goat milk is secreted in the same way as human's – apocrine secretion – whereas cow's is merocrine secretion. Protein differences are important.

"Some reports say many Asians are lactose intolerant [hence demand for goat milk].

"In fact, goat milk also contains lactose, but it's the different proteins that mainly make the difference."