COUNTRY LIVING
Kaimai Cheese changes hands Waikato artisan cheese making company Kaimai is being wound up and its assets have been sold to a company that plans to produce and export UHT milk. The new owner will also make small quantities of cheese and butter for the local market. Kaimai executive chairman and co-founder Wyatt Creech says it had been “impossible” to make the venture work with milk prices so high and consumer spending still constrained after the economic downturn. All creditors had been paid, and some level of return was expected for the company’s dozens of small shareholders, says Wyatt. But the Kaimai Cheese name will continue, says its new owner
representative, shareholder, director and chief executive, Jiahui Miao. The cafe and delicatessen at Waharoa, near Matamata, which employs more than 15 people including casuals, will continue to operate. Most staff at the retail operation had been retained, along with the cheesemaker. The new owner, Pureland Dairy, is applying to the Matamata-Piako District Council and the Waikato Regional Council for consents necessary to convert the plant to produce long-life milk for export. The venture will also need food-safety compliance approval from the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Scholarship open
Applications for Farmers’ Mutual Group’s 2014 agriculture scholarships for promising students entering the first year of undergraduate agriculture degrees at Lincoln or Massey University are now open. The scholarships contribute $4000 toward tuition fees for each year of a degree. FMG’s agriculture scholarships have already given 17 students a head start towards their agriculture careers, with many of them going onto jobs such as dairy consultants and irrigation specialists. Applications for the 2014 scholarships are open to December 15. For more information, or to apply online, go to: www.fmg.co.nz. FMG also provides scholarships for the Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre in the Wairarapa; and are proud sponsors of the prestigious Nuffield Agricultural Scholarships.
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If it given the green light, the new venture could be expected to provide up to 50 new jobs for the local community, says Jiahui. Pureland Dairy’s parent company, Yoomoo Dairy Holdings, is based in Singapore and Canada. It owns 99 per cent of Pureland, and Jiahui holds one per cent.
‘Spay the stray’ turns one It has been one year since we launched our campaign to address the growing stray cat problem; and our statistics show we have removed more than 400 stray cats from the Tauranga environment, completely contained 24 colonies, re-homed 208 cats and de-sexed 275 cats and kittens. People can help by donating through our website: www.arrc.org.nz or send cheques to 212 Fraser St, Tauranga. For a confidential discussion, about a bequest or endowment, people can contact our ARRC coordinator Sue Mackey on 07 579 9115.
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