Dairy farmers will get a more in-depth insight into Fonterra's global strategy next week and hear about the next steps in the co-op's capital structure review, which could lead to a sharemarket listing.
The farmers will be briefed at supplier-only meetings around the country, which co-op directors willalso attend.
A Fonterra spokesman said the company was not disclosing what the review's "next steps" were until farmers were told.
Some dairy farmers have criticised Fonterra recently for the quality of information it gives them.
A senior dairy sector source said yesterday that the strategy briefings would be essential for arming farmers with the information they needed to make informed decisions about any proposed capital structure changes.
The strategy briefings would include on overview of opportunities, risks and how the world of dairying was changing, the source said.
Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden said no capital structure solutions or proposals would be put to the meetings because it was "far too early in the process".
He said the meetings would cover strategy, this year's payout and next season's prospects.
"The refresh on the strategy is to provide farmers with some content for the capital structure discussions."
The dairy source believed Fonterra had not done a lot of work yet on actually developing any concrete restructuring options.
Currently, Fonterra farmers must generally hold shares in proportion to the amount of milk they supply and only suppliers can be shareholders.
Van der Heyden said the board, the Fonterra Shareholders Council and farmers agreed that three capital issues needed fixing: capital for growth, shareholders' choice and redemption risk.
Capital for growth relates to Fonterra accessing funds for developments, shareholders' choice is about what investment options farmers have, and redemption risk is about the risk to the business if farmers suddenly pull out a lot of capital.
Last month, former Canterbury University accountancy senior lecturer Alan Robb warned against a full or partial listing of Fonterra shares, saying it could cost farmers control of their livelihood or create tensions between farmers and non-supplier shareholders.
