He has been remanded in custody to reappear in Whakatane District Court on February 14.
"The Whakatane area has been victim to a growing number of these dairy robberies in the past few months, but none remain unsolved," said Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Standen, Investigation Manager Eastern Bay of Plenty.
"These types of crimes are concerning for us and can be a traumatic experience for the business owners, particularly when weapons and violence are involved.
"We want our local businesses to operate without fear of these senseless criminal acts.
We have apprehended every offender for all aggravated robberies in the Eastern Bay of Plenty over recent years and will continue to investigate with urgency and focus resources on this crime.
"Our investigations are often advanced with the prevention measures taken by some shop owners, such as installing security cameras, fog cannons, merchandising techniques and good overall security, which enables us to work quickly on identifying suspects.
"Add to that the support from the public, who often provide valuable information, which means we can get offenders off the streets quickly to keep everyone safe."
