Dannevirke will host one of the few North Island meetings in a road show launching mainly-South Island, farmer-owned red meat co-operative Alliance Group as what it calls a "food and solutions company".
Alliance has seven plants nationwide, including at Dannevirke and Levin in the North Island, and the road show includes 20 dates in the South Island and four in the lower North Island.
It starts in Cheviot, North Canterbury, on Monday, and will spend two days in the North Island the following week, with the Southern Hawke's Bay meeting at the Dannevirke Services and Citizens Club on October 1, starting at 7.30pm.
Masterton will have been the scene of the first North Island meeting earlier in the day, while the road show moves to Feilding and Taihape the following day.
Chief executive David Surveyor says the name does not change, and the new branding focuses on the strong connection the "only 100 per cent farmer-owned major red meat co-operative" has with its farmer shareholders, and reflects growing demand from consumers who want to be directly connected to the farm and know where their food comes from.
"The company was established by a group of like-minded farmers who saw that unity and common purpose were strengths and owning greater parts of the value chain made absolute sense," he says.
"Over the last three years, we have been evolving. We are not just a great livestock processor, but also a world-class food and solutions co-operative."
He says Alliance farmers produce quality free-range grass-fed natural lamb, beef and venison in beautiful environments "where the animals are a reflection of the way they are farmed".
Shareholders, suppliers, rural professionals and anyone interested in the co-operative are invited to attend the meetings.