Empson said that’s purely coincidental and it would be business as usual.
“I’m retiring because I think I’ve been there long enough and Dave is retiring because he wants to do other things.”
As a goat farmer, Empson said he is more than confident in the future of the co-operative. It produces a premium product which is in high demand and supplying farmers received a healthy $17.50kg milksolids (MS) payout for 2011-12.
The high-risk, high-reward industry is busy building suppliers as part of a plan to increase milk volume and fill a new powder dryer which is expected to be built by August next year. That will produce 400-500% more powder than the co-operative’s current dryer but it doesn’t expect to fill it for another 10 years.
The co-operative has 60 current supplier shareholders with 10 new farmers signed up this season and another nine for the 2014-15 season. One new supplier is signed up for 2015-16 with another five conditionally approved.
The co-operative developed the world’s first goat milk infant formula in 1988 and created a niche market but competition in the marketplace is increasing, particularly from France and Holland, Empson said.
Traditionally those countries had focused on goat cheese and made powder only from surplus milk but their focus was now changing.
“They are starting to see the market for powder formula,” he said.
“We haven’t got the market to ourselves so that’s why we have to be the best.”
Increasing competition and the recent Fonterra crisis with suspected botulinum had highlighted the need to be on top of their game. A number of containers had been held up in Russia but it was expected to only be a short term blip and wouldn’t affect future prices, Empson said.
“We aim to be the best and we believe we are the best. It has highlighted the fact that events completely out of your control can have a huge effect on your operations.”
The co-operative constantly renews and improves its testing and manufacturing processes.
“We are in charge of our own destiny. Everything comes through a locked gate and exits through a locked gate in a can. It can’t be tampered with and if anything goes wrong it’s our fault.”
Meanwhile New Image Group, a health products and nutritionals manufacturer with spray dry, canning and packaging plants, is on the lookout for more goat milk supply.
General manager Guy Wills said the company was motivated to produce its goat milk infant formula BabySteps, for two main reasons – children’s caregivers looking for an alternative to cows’ milk formula and more importantly for a sustainable supply.
Three stages of the milkpowder are available from new born to toddler. Goat milk is slightly higher in fat than cow’s milk, but it doesn’t contain agglutinin which makes fat globules cluster together and therefore harder to digest.
Higher levels of the essential linoleic and arachnadonic fatty acids and different proteins also make goat’s milk more digestible.
It’s higher in calcium (13%), has 25% more vitamin B-6, 47% more vitamin A, 134% more potassium and three times more niacin.
But cow’s milk contains five times as much vitamin B-12 and 10 times as much folic acid, which is why goat’s milk must be supplemented with folic acid to be adequate as a formula or milk substitute for infants and toddlers.
