Instead, the workers lately turned up for work and watched movies, played cards and walked around the factory - as the state-of-the-art equipment and production lines remained idle.
The NZDF milk factory, converted from a pet-food plant, was expected to inject $6 million into the local economy in employment alone.
Jamie Hadland, one of three UHT operators, said his fellow workers felt let down by the factory closure.
"Everyone coming into the company had high expectations and they trained and worked hard to run the processing operation. There are a lot of skills walking out of this place today," he said.
"People from Wendy's and McDonald's restaurants, plasterers, painters and engineers arrived to start a new career. We were still confident two to three weeks ago that the factory would keep going. But it hasn't happened."
It is the second time in four years that Mr Hadland has been made redundant - the first came when the Carter Holt Harvey plywood mill closed in Hewletts Rd.
He left a secure, higher-paid job with Seahorse Equipment at Tauriko to join NZDF last December because he wanted to work in the dairy industry, which he felt had a bright future in terms of growth.
"I wanted that working experience and to use it as a stepping stone to get into a reputable company like Fonterra. I thought I was going to go somewhere. That's why it's a big let-down.
"Now I think I will pack up and relocate to Australia and work for bigger money," Mr Hadland said.
Office administrators Caron Rogers and Sara Laugesen said the staff was "a really neat crew to work with".
Ms Rogers, who also started in December, said everyone became a close bunch and did things socially together.
"You'd see groups go for runs around the block at lunchtime. They worked as a team and because of all the training they put it makes you feel numb, and you have to cope with that."
There was a slight suggestion that the factory could start up again, but who knew what the future held, she said.
Jocelyn Pratt, New Zealand Dairy Workers Union new sites organiser, believed redundancy payments should have been made to the latest staff laid off, but four weeks' notice "is what we can negotiate".
She said her union had 25 members at the NZDF plant and had been negotiating a collective employment agreement for some time.
She said that negotiation was postponed and then there was the restructuring when the shifts were reduced.
She believed the owner would honour the outstanding pay to its staff, but the union has requested to view the assets of the company.
"It's very disappointing to lose a work site in Tauranga. We had a new employer that was great for employment in the region ... This is a significant loss of jobs in the present environment," she said.
The outstanding pay including holidays will be made in three instalments on November 2 (for the past fortnight), November 16 and 30.
Richard Taylor, acting NZDF plant manager, said the four weeks' notice gave staff the opportunity to look for work and get support.
Work and Income officials visited staff following the meeting yesterday to be told the final outcome.
Two days before, staff were handed a letter warning them about the factory closure.
Mr Taylor said Tauranga had developed expertise to run the milk plant - there were only three who had been involved with the industry before - and the staff had done really well.
"I can't praise enough the effort the guys put in."
He said milk supply was never a problem, with Fonterra making 50 million litres available in a year, and some milk also came from Synlait in Canterbury.
In February, the plant was served with abatement notices by Bay of Plenty Regional Council after spilling milk into the city stormwater system.
Full production stopped on July 6 and then it resumed for three days in August.
"Eventually we started up again and we thought it would go from there," said Mr Taylor. "The market is huge out there anywhere for UHT milk."
It's understood UBNZ Assets Holdings was facing legal action from a freight forwarder owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
NZDP was incorporated on July 30 last year and May Wang, who fronted Hong Kong-listed Natural Dairy's bid to buy the 16 Crafar farms, was named the only director.
UBNZ Asssets Holdings was an associate of Natural Dairy, and the plan was to supply milk to the Tauranga plant from the Crafar Farms. The UHT milk would be sold through Natural Dairy's 740 franchised stores in China.
May Wang, now known as May Hao, was declared bankrupt by the Auckland High Court late last year and stepped down from the NZDP and UBNZ directorships.
Now living in Hong Kong, May Wang faces three corruption charges.
One count, laid against her by the Hong Kong Independent Commission against Corruption, is offering advantages to an agent; the other two are dealing with New Zealand property known or reasonably believed to represent the proceeds of crime.
