Open Country opens butter plant
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
For Fonterra to move forward with TAF, the board had to be satisfied that five preconditions were met. The fifth TAF precondition was the support of at least 50% of the Shareholders Council.
Council chair, Ian Brown says there was 97% support for the resolution and this reflected the confidence the Council had in the new capital structure.
"The council's support for the preconditions, which are underpinned by 100% farmer ownership and control, signal that they have reached the standards set by the council on behalf of our farmer shareholders."
Brown says the council has undertaken a robust and fully independent two-year review process to ensure farmers' interests were paramount in the construction and design of TAF.
"From the outset the council viewed 100% farmer shareholder ownership and control as a non-negotiable and that any change to the capital structure had to be an enduring one.
"To ensure this was the case the council engaged the services of a number of external advisors who worked to review all aspects of TAF from a farmers' perspective. We are confident that the protections contained within TAF will preserve 100% farmer shareholder ownership and control and that the TAF model before us will provide the cooperative with stability for years to come."
