“We’ve always felt we can get a better return for our milk by being on our own,” chief executive Paul McGilvary said.
Original Tatua suppliers would milk cows at 4am, skim the milk and transport the cream to the factory by horse and cart across what was then swamp land. Many farmers then had contracts to dig drains or build roads during the day, before going home to milk their cows again in the evening.
“They worked themselves into the ground. And it’s hard for people who are so determined to get a company going – they don’t necessarily want to share all that with everyone else.”
Tatua wanted to acknowledge such a significant history and had planned four events this year to “celebrate it with a lot of pride”.
A book, Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company 100 Years, by Dr Ian Hunter, was launched in March to start the centenary celebrations. It captured the co-operative’s history and key events in NZ’s dairy industry.
“Some of the photographs are amazing,” McGilvray said.
“You see pictures of carts with the milk tanks and the mud is up to the middle of the wheels.”
The other three events planned this year are;
• A shareholders’ visit to Japan in April to celebrate 10 years since Tatua opened an office in Tokyo.
• An Incorporation Day celebration on June 30, marking 100 years from the signing of the original deed of incorporation. An honour roll will be unveiled to record all Tatua suppliers and staff members.
• A gala dinner held at Claudelands, Hamilton on November 8 at which 1000 guests are expected, including government and industry dignitaries and overseas customers.
