A Southland farmer, who has formed a tiny new independent dairy cooperative in the wake of the industry's move towards a mega-merger, has won a three-year contract to supply an Australian food distributor.
Most New Zealand dairy farmers last week voted to combine 95 per cent of the country's dairy industry
to form one giant company, temporarily named Global Dairy Company.
But Southland dairy farmer Bill Muller says he wants to make it on his own.
New Zealand's Premier Dairy Cooperative was set up by Mr Muller in October last year. New Zealand Companies Office records show Mr Muller and Margaret Muller are the sole directors and shareholders.
Mr Muller said the Southland cooperative is about to sign a contract with Australian-based Elco Food Company.
Under the contract, the Southland cooperative will supply a minimum of 150 tonnes of cow feta a year and a minimum of 50 tonnes of a traditional white semi-hard cheese, called haloumi in Cyprus.
The contract is worth about $1.3 million a year.
Mr Muller said that for the 2001-02 dairy season, he would supply milk from his 300-cow herd for the products, which would be produced at Balclutha's sheep feta factory.
However, extra suppliers and other premises would probably be required for next season.
Elco Food managing director Emmanuel Kotis, of Victoria, said the company had been working with Mr Muller since November last year, and distributed its products to more than 1000 stores in Australia and Asia.
The Southland-made feta and haloumi would be sold in one of Australia's biggest supermarket chains, Coles, which had about 480 stores nationwide.
Mr Muller said New Zealand's Premier Dairy Cooperative held shares in the Dairy Board, which had sold feta made by the Southland cooperative since about November last year.
But the Dairy Board will be integrated into GlobalCo and dairy exporting deregulated, allowing anyone to export dairy products from New Zealand.
- NZPA
