Westland Dairy

Image Credit: Derek Smith and Maclean Barker Photographers

With a dairying history deeper than the millenial boom that hit the rest of New Zealand, the West Coast has a farmer owned dairy company going back to 1897. The product is sourced from a geographically huge catchment of over 400 co-op members, from Karamea to Haast, and inland as well. There are Westland Dairy tankers everywhere.
The ever-expanding factory in the heart of Hokitika is a monument to West Coast independence, while most of New Zealand's Dairy farmers have joined Fonterra, Coasters stick together.