The Country 16/12/25: Mark de Lautour talks to Jamie Mackay

The chief executive of Open Country Dairy has been on the acquisition and soothsaying trails in 2025.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Counting down to the end of the year, and we
bid our correspondence from twenty twenty five goodbye. This bloke
is the chief executive of Open Country Dairy, as second
biggest dairy company, obviously behind Fonterra. He's had a busy year.
He has been on the acquisition trail, buying Matara Valley
Milk and me Raka. And if that wasn't enough, I

(00:21):
think last week, Mark Delatour, you opened your new butterplant
in Waharoa in the white paddow.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, good afternoon, Jamie. That's dead right, and it makest
I think I've had eleven Christmas party functions to go
to with our suppliers, so I found seven or eight kilos.
If you've lost it during that time, Jenny.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
And I haven't lost it, but I've sent you a
box of Makaisa which might add another aequila. You deserve
it hard yards. Indeed, Hey, I was down south on
a golf trip recently and I drove past Mattara Valley Milk,
which is just outside of Gore, my former old home patch,
and I'm thinking, what a brand spanking new site that
is to get your hands on.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, it is. It is and look, we're really proud
of that. We feel the same as we drive into it.
Now it's across meat Acre and Matara Valley. We have
been busy and not all the not all the tasks
have been pleasant in the last few months. You know,
we've had Matara for six weeks and meat Acre for
about three months now and we needed to write size
those businesses. So we've been going through that uncomfortable process.

(01:24):
But you know, when it comes to if you look
at Matara Valley site, as you said, and you walk
into it, you know we call it our our laston
Martin really because it shows very well and there's a
high performance site probably I guess, carrying on with that analogy, Jami,
it's really been used to date to take the kids
to school, you know. So our plans are to get

(01:46):
it out on a racetrack and see what it can do. Well.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
I've got to give you some credit. You said to
me months ago that the milk price was going to
be nine point fifty. It's going to go below that.
I see rabobank is now at nine dollars and you
guys have dropped down to nine dollars thirty. Where have
we gone wrong.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, I think. I mean, I don't want to be
the soothsayer of doom on that one. I just I
just felt that, you know, a nine to fifty I
think it was around fixed milk proces. You took one
of our fixed milk price offers at nine fifty, Jamien,
I think you know, it just it felt on my
bones that after the last two seasons, that was a
pretty good pick. And so it's proved. But yeah, I

(02:23):
think at the end of the day, Jamie, is just
a lot of product available at the moment. You know,
when global prices after two years have been this strong,
production increases, and so I think by see that it
is peak production out of New Zealand. Is a fair
bit of volume being popped around on various markets at

(02:44):
the moment. So buyers holding off thinking that next week's
price might be better than this week. So it becomes
a self fulfilling prophecy a little bit. So I still think, Jamie,
we'll get through this peak. The good news and Zealand
farmers is that I don't see the demand being poor
in the globe. You know, if you see buyers not

(03:05):
buying because consumer demands off, then it's a little bit
more of a worry right now. It's just because there's
so much supply, buyers are just being cautious and it
tends to trigger a price adjustment. So but while demands that,
I would say, you know, by the end of the season,
we're still pigging that it solidifies a little bit and

(03:26):
we should be right for the next season.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Well, I hope you're right. We've got a global dairy
trade auction tonight. Is it a given that will drop again?

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yep, I would say so.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
You've had no preparation on this. I did tell you
in the ad break before we went to air, you've
got to name your ag person of the air now. Interestingly,
and begrudgingly, perhaps, Mark Delatour, your ag person of the
Year last year was your competition, Miles Hurrell, it was.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
And no problem doing a problem business year. I have
been thinking about it during the and I'm probably going
to go with Then can I go with a tie? Jane?
I'm thinking, I.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Know this isn't hang on, This isn't primary school netball.
Not counting the scores, Mark Delatour, you can only have
one win. I don't do tis well.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
I'm deciding whether between Chris Bishop and Simon Court for
their RMA reform bill, which I think is going to
do you the greatest advantage for dairy farmers and the
zillmen a little, you know, in the next few years.
So I'm pretty happy with either of those two. But
if you if you want a spokespersonal, you'd have to
go with the Prince of the Provinces.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah, Shane James, he's a favorite here on the Country
Lover's work, the old Marta Shane. Anyhow, I think Chris
Bishop was the guy who really drove those RMA changes.
Thank you, Mark de Latour for your time throughout twenty
twenty five. It's been a huge year or Open Country Dairy.
We'll catch you back next year.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Absolutely, I'm looking forward to those Michaises, Jame