Kiwi Dairies continues to mop up the dairying industry's smaller cooperatives.
The moves could leave the field to just the two industry giants and the tiny but determinedly independent Tatua.
Yesterday, as shareholders of the small Tasman cooperative voted 98.3 per cent in favour of merging with Kiwi, the big company announced
yet another merger proposal.
Kiwi, which last year merged with Northland to become 37 per cent of the industry, has reached agreement with Kaikoura for a merger to be backdated to June.
Kaikoura is the smallest and oldest of the country's dairying cooperatives.
Its chairman, Ron Mackle, said his company had been a supporter of the mega co-op proposal and believed that fewer parties at the negotiating table would hasten its formation.
"We took the opportunity to accept a merger proposal from Kiwi to facilitate this end, and we urge other companies to follow our lead and hasten the creation of the mega co-op, which we all know will benefit our industry greatly," he said.
Sealing of the deal will take Kiwi to 38 per cent of the industry and leave just Westland, Marlborough and Tatua of the smaller co-ops.
The industry's biggest company is New Zealand Dairy Group, which makes up 57 per cent of the industry.
