Miraka Milk Suppliers
The Janssen family farm has been supplying Miraka from its beginning
Tony and Lorraine Janssen say joining up with fledgling milk processing company Miraka was a no brainer. They are original suppliers and very happy with the close relationship they have with the company.
Tony and Lorraine Janssen worked their way up the dairy farming ladder starting off in the 1980’s with their first sharemilking job in Tokoroa. In 1991 they bought their first farm near Matamata and in the mid 1990’s, they extended their farm business and kept farming before finally moving to Atiamuri in 2003.
The Janssens now farm a 188ha effective property in conjunction with their son, Tony jnr. They farm a herd of 430 cows.
The farm uses a grass based system with the addition of PKE and baleage depending on the season. Tony says they like to feed their cows well all year around. Young stock are also farmed on the property but the Janssens recently bought a run off.
The soil is pumice, which makes for free draining.
Along with Tony jnr the farm also employs one other staff member.
The supply contract with Miraka is the same as any standard supply contract. Miraka undertakes to pay 10c above the Fonterra price.
Signing up with Miraka may have been seen as a “leap of faith”. At the time the family joined up, the factory hadn’t been completed, but Tony snr says it was clear that the company was starting on a sound financial footing.
The family says they are Miraka suppliers for the long haul. They consider themselves lucky to have been original suppliers and enjoy the ‘family’ atmosphere of the company. They say they have far more regular contact with the Miraka staff than they ever had with Fonterra.
Lorraine and Tony share the same philosophy as Miraka around the inter-generational nature of the business. They’re both in the business of milk for the long haul.
Releasing the value of the shares from Fonterra contracts has enabled shareholders to retire debt, invest in more land or redevelop their properties.
Richard Wyeth says those who signed up early to Miraka were taking a leap of faith but they’re been rewarded. He says there’s now a waiting list of potential suppliers.