How can we help?
WHY WE HAVE THE CO-OPERATIVE DIFFERENCE
Recognising the performance that sets us apart
Your Co-op is different from other milk processors. It’s different because you own it – it’s yours – and because your individual effort contributes to greater collective value.
As a Co-op farmer, you have the ability to affect the relationship the Co-op has with your customers, and how much they value your milk, with the things you do on-farm.
This is why we have the Co-operative Difference, and now the new Customer Incentives - to encourage the milk quality, low emissions and leading on-farm practices that set us apart.
WHAT’S NEW
What’s been updated and the new Customer Incentives
UNDERSTAND THE STAGES
Get to know the changes
THE START
Te Pūtake
THE CENTRE
Te Puku
THE PEAK
Te Tihi
NEW
Customer Incentives
WHY WE’VE MADE CHANGES
Why have we made changes for the 2025/26 season?
The Co-operative Difference is always evolving to reflect changing market needs, and to help farmers move to where we need to be to set ourselves up for success in the future.
Your Co-op team has negotiated new Customer Incentives that will be funded through agreements with our customers. These will include access to on-farm solutions, and a Customer Incentive payment. Farms must meet certain criteria and achieve any level of the Co-operative Difference to be eligible.
Watch: Peter McBride and Miles Hurrell talk about our strategy with customers.
HOW IT’S FUNDED
How the Co-operative Difference is funded
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
The Co-operative Difference was launched in 2019 and is about setting the Co-op up for success into the future by securing opportunities to create value and managing potential risks to existing value.
What’s required at each level is outlined on these pages:
The Co-operative Difference has achieved its goal to support an increased uptake in participation of the product stewardship scheme. We’ll continue to support our farmers and to recycle through our Farm Source stores, but it’s important that the Co-operative Difference is driving progress towards our strategic priorities.
The purchased nitrogen surplus target (75th percentile) has dropped from 138 kgN/ha to 119 kgN/ha since 2020/21, which shows farmers are being more efficient with their Nitrogen use. Regulation is also now in place for the 190 Nitrogen Cap and Freshwater Farm Plans.
Farm grown feed is still an important focus, and we'll continue to support this through our On-Farm Efficiency Service visits which include discussions around increasing home-grown feed where it makes sense.
Regulation is now in place in regions where winter grazing management is a higher risk.
Visit Te Puku to learn more about Emissions Excellence.
Visit Customer Incentives to learn more about customer-funded Emissions Incentive payments.
Customer incentives are made available through funding from separate agreements with Mars and Nestlé and are on top of milk price and earnings.
- The Emissions Excellence payment will be funded in the same way as the other Co-operative Difference achievements.
- To operate the Co-operative Difference to date, a portion of Milk Price (10 cents) is initially ringfenced from the Advance Rate until achievement levels across the Co-op have been determined.
- At the end of the season, the reserved funds are distributed to those achieving Co-operative Difference, and any remaining reserved funds are distributed back to ALL farmers. Other individual payment adjustments happen at this time too (e.g. specialty milk premiums, milk quality deductions, fat and protein adjustments).
- For the farms that do not achieve the Co-operative Difference, they receive what we refer to as the ‘base payment’, which is determined based on the wash-up done at the end of the season as explained above.
Yes, eligible farms can receive both payments.
We are launching a new Co-operative Difference dashboard in September 2025 that will allow you to track your progress through the season.