Charles Fergusson told Rowena Duncum the creative way Fonterra got its tankers to Takaka. Photo / File
Charles Fergusson told Rowena Duncum the creative way Fonterra got its tankers to Takaka. Photo / File
Fonterra's Regional Head of Farm Source for Canterbury, Tasman and Marlborough, Charles Fergusson says it has been a big week for the region.
Fergusson spoke to The Country Early Edition's Rowena Duncum about how some areas are still recovering from the effects of Cyclone Gita, "It's been tough in GoldenBay."
Fonterra had to get creative to pick up milk from Takaka due to road closures and Fergusson reports the whole of Golden Bay was cut off.
"When you're picking up milk every day and processing it - you need a lot of tanker movements, and very quickly our team in the Bay organised a barge and we were barging tankers in and out every day."
Fergusson says the barges worked on other levels as they gave the community something to focus on, and also allowed Fonterra to work with Civil Defence and local businesses to get food, fuel and essential supplies into Takaka.
Also in today's interview: Charles Fergusson talks about how Cyclone Gita disrupted Fonterra's Mycoplasma bovis meetings, the dairy co-operative's partnership with a2 Milk and a new distribution agreement in Bangladesh.
