The chief executive of Open Country Dairy celebrates 20 years in the business with cheese, wine and gin at his Fieldays site. He also comments on how Open Country Dairy’s products, and their forecast opening price, compare with Fonterra’s.
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Episode Transcript
Mark Delatour is the chief executive of Open Country Dairy
formerly known as Open Country Cheese. And Mark, good afternoon.
You've come bearing gifts and this isn't radio bludging. I'm
actually a supplier, so I'm allowed one of these.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, good afternoon, Jamie. Yea, hopefully you can hear me.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Okay, there's lots of noise around here, but what an
amazing event. This is the Field Days this year is outstanding.
Our stands been full.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You're so busy you can come to our stands. So
I had to deliver the cheese.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Well I did pop in yesterday afternoon. And do you
want to know why you stand so full? It's not
because of you. Well, it's probably because of your engaging personality, Mark,
but you've also got like wine and cheese, Kraft Bear
and cheese, gin and cheese. You're doing these tastings with
your cheese chief cheesemaker. I've just forgotten his name.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well as have you, Jason Tarrant.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Jason Tarrant, and he does an excellent presentation. So if
your suppliers are wandering past, that's the way to go.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yeah, that's right. I mean it's a you know, it
is our birthday. You mentioned on the intro that we're
blowing out twenty candles and it is our twentieth birthday.
And for a lot of people in the industry, they
think Open Country is still new, you know. But so
it's good to just say we've been around for twenty years,
we're excited about the future, and why not have a
bit of fun on your birthday. So pairing some cheese
(01:23):
with some beer, peering cheese with wine and then with gin,
it's just a fun thing to do.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, let's go back twenty years because it was the
brainchild and we talked about this one yesterday on the
show Why It Creature former National in fact, I think
he was a deputy Prime Minister at one stage, and
the late John Luxton was a former Minister of Agriculture.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Hell of a good bloke, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
And it started off really at our site in wahah
and that's where our cheese is still produced today.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
But we've grown from there. We've got four sites now.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
We've got two in the White Kaddow, a big site
in wonginguin our largest side of courses down in inmicargol Ahua.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
And you're building a cheese factory down there.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
We are indeed, we're building a butter plant up at
Wahara and and also a new cheese plant down in Vocaguary.
So we're excited about that, you know, to be investing
in the industry. Now, you know, we're just showing our
confidence in the in the dairy industry.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
How does your product mix and I'm not well, I
am asking for a comparison compared to the likes of Fonterra,
and we've seen Fonterra make a step change in direction
they're calling it. How is your product mix different or
is it similar in terms of powders versus cheese.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, I guess they do a few more specialty items really,
and we stick to our kitting. We always say that
when we make things simpler, they work better, Jane. So
you know, cheese is in our DNA, and I always
introduce the company as where cheese producers that make some
powder products as well because of the grass curve. But
you know, I think we like to see ourselves as
(02:54):
very very good exporters of cheese. We make great designer
and greed and so I guess and powders. And now
we're expanding into butter. So nice and simple, but it
matches the grass curve in it, and it matches the
protein and fat mix of milk.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
And the obvious question to ask you and I ask
you every time we chat on the country in terms
of our forecast opening price, and you operate a wee
bit differently from your main competitor Fonterra. There they've opened
their they're opening opening shots like eight dollars, pretty conservative.
I would have thought the banks are at eight forty
or eight fifty. What are you guys saying?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yes, so we do. You're right.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
We pay in four milk periods through the year, and
the idea being that we just you know, want to
pay farmers for their milk as they supply, so four
times through the year we do full payment monthly advances.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So our first two periods are.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
In the eight thirty eight to forty point in our forecast.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So could we see something in your fourth quarter beginning
with a nine? Or am I being too optimistic?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Probably being quite a themistic, but you know we all
hope for that and we'll be striving for it.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah, Well, I guess farmers can live with something starting
with an eight. It's a hell of a lot better
off than we were where we were in August of
last year when six was bandied about. In fact, you
you said to me off the record, and I can
say this safely now because we've got past that. You said.
It could have been worse.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
It could have been.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
It could have been, you know, and and we were
you know, New Zealand was our own worst enemy in
that in that situation.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So it's really good to see.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
You know, there's been a lot of hard work done
this milk well, this past milk season to get back
to where we are, and we just need to hold
firm on those numbers.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Now, Okay, Mark delatour chief executive of Open Country, Derry,
thank you for the cheese. Dove to give one of
these to Rowena.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Rowena's already got something, so don't don't let it tell you.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I've got a son out there who will get down
on one of those. Thank you very much. Proud to
be a supplier.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Great thanks Jamie,
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