It’s been revealed Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings, the Hong Kong-listed company looking to buy the Crafar family farms, previously sounded out Waikato dairy co-operative Tatua about a milk supply arrangement.

Natural Dairy bosses met with Tatua earlier this year, but talks broke down as the co-op didn’t have the UHT production capacity to meet Natural Dairy’s request.

Tatua chief executive Paul McGilvray says the meeting barely went past the introductory stage.

Natural Dairy has applied under the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act for Fonterra to supply it with milk if its Crafar bid succeeds.