DAIRY INDUSTRY
SALUTED ON WEST COAST
The only dairy company still
based on the Coast, Westland
has compiled the stories
of those pioneers – reminising
about everything from the rigours
of churning butter by hand, adventurous
milk runs and the ‘cream
that got the cat’, through to the
rise and fall of multiple small dairy
co-operatives and the West Coast’s
legendary uniqueness. The Hokitika
United Dairy Company was
the first ‘official’ one to establish
on the West Coast in 1868. Many
other West Coast dairy co-operatives
formed during the late 1800s
and early 1900s, including Westland
Co-operative Dairy Company
(Westland Milk Products) in 1937.
“Since those early beginnings, the
dairy industry has grown to be an
important social and economic
contributor to the West Coast region,”
Westland chief executive Toni
Brendish says. “Dairy generated
more than 14.3% ($234.4 million)
in gross domestic product in the
region in 2016 alone. More than
9% of the Coast’s workforce are
staff of Westland, with shareholder
farmers and their employees additional
to that. Dairying creates an
important downstream effect for the
regional economy. Numerous other
DAIRY SPECIAL
businesses, along with community,
social and cultural activities, benefit
from the economic activity that dairy
creates, and the people it brings to,
or helps retain on, the Coast.” She
says the collection of stories and
photographs will become a valuable
historic resource. “Some of the folk
whose stories feature are well into
their eighties. These stories might
well have been lost, now they’ll be
around forever. It’s a great history,
and a real tribute to the resilience,
innovation, inventiveness and sheer
hard work of people who are proud
to call themselves Coasters.”
www.150years.co.nz
Westland Milk
has released
a collection of
stories about
the West Coast
history of
dairying as it
celebrates 150
years since the
first commercial
dairy company
was established
there.
Specialists in the
design and build of dairy
processing and storage
facilities.
FT611
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 23
/www.150years.co.nz
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
