Spring Sheep Milk Co takes on new investors

Some of the Spring Milk Company sheep. Photo / Supplied

By RNZ

Government-backed Spring Sheep Milk Co has been after more money to strengthen its sales into China - the main outlet for all sheep milk powder exports.

Pāmu half owns Spring Sheep in a joint venture with SLC Group, and this week, it announced it has taken on new investors in order to grow the business.

Spring Sheep has 16 mainly Waikato-based suppliers, and one supplier with two farms is Taranaki-based.

Company chief executive Nick Hammond said the investors are agri-business people from New Zealand and the US, as well as two Chinese investors to boost in-country marketing.

He said this year the company’s sheep milk powder export returns to China had doubled compared to last year.

“One of the new investors has been working with us for a number of years, and so for us it’s really a deepening of that relationship with them.

“One of the other investors has a lot of expertise specifically in premium dairy in China, as well as a very large retail presence in China.

“For them, it’s about bringing them in line with Spring Sheep and working on projects to leverage that retail capability they have in China and they’re keen to also secure pathways to sheep milk into China.”

The Chinese investors are injecting cash and expertise with Spring Sheep retaining a 90% New Zealand ownership.

Spring Sheep is not opening up for more suppliers next spring, saying any growth in volume will come from existing suppliers - this is in contrast to pre-Covid comments by the Government and sector players that sheep milk was in for explosive growth.

Last season (2023/24) was financially dire for some sheep milk farmers.

One of the other key processors and exporters, Maui Milk, told suppliers in early March to cease milking immediately, saying the future was uncertain.

A move by Maui supplier Allan Browne, who milks 1700 sheep, said it cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But he said the company did stay on board and has taken milk again this season.

Browne said he was feeling confident as he closed his fifth sheep milking season with the company.

He tried a new system this year, letting the majority of the ewes rear their lambs rather than going onto milk powder.

“Certainly, we produced less milk out of the ewes who reared their lambs, but there is a lot less cost, and we’re going to continue down that path.

“I am very happy with the product - the lambs we reared - and we still made a reasonable volume.

“Up until this raw heat and dry hit.

“We’ve had to buy in a lot of lucerne baleage.

Browne said he was confident about the future of the sheep milk industry in New Zealand and believed fellow suppliers felt the same.

- RNZ