James Baxter Connett was a leading early figure in Taranaki dairying and in 1875 he boasted that his “THE TARANAKI CHEESE MANUFACTORY” in Bell Block was the largest dairy in the province.

The Burnside (Sentry Hill) Condensed Milk Factory was opened in November 1898 as one of Taranaki’s earliest attempts to expand dairy production beyond traditional butter and cheese making. Founded by entrepreneur Donald Munro.

Alice Ford Sampson (1858-1927) the wife of Frederick Henry Sampson (1851-1937) operated a small butter factory on their property on Mountain Road, Sentry Hill near the site of Paponga Pā.

This butter factory was built on land owned by Henry James Fisher on Henwood Road, Bell Block, New Plymouth. Mr Fisher (the son of the Reverend Henry Sanderson Fisher, Senior Chaplain in Bengal), Mr Fisher spent almost 30 years working as Assistant Commissioner for Maritime Customs at Tamsui on Formosa Island (now Taiwan) before retiring to New Zealand to become a gentleman farmer.

The Pitone factory/creamery history dates back to December 1869 when it was originally built as a flax mill by Mr J Dingle at the mouth of the Pitone Stream at the beginning of a flax boom.

The Koru Road creamery was erected by the Oakura Co-operative Dairy Factory Company Limited in late 1905 to supply the Oakura butter factory in Oakura just under 7kms away.

The concept of a butter factory to serve the Oakura district farmers was first mooted at a meeting of settlers at the Oakura Hotel on Monday, 7 February 1887.

In 1902, Albert E Washer subdivided 1.2 acres for a creamery site on Ball Road just past the Petch Road intersection. The creamery and manager’s cottage opened in time for the 1902-1903 season with a contract to supply cream to the first Kakaramea Co-op butter factory in Kakaramea.

This creamery and then cheese factory had an eventful life in its short history. Originally built on Allen Road, Ohangai for the Mells Co-operative Dairy Company Limited in 1903 for a cost of £312 16s 4d, following its destruction by fire in 1906, the rebuilt creamery was taken over by the Meremere Co-operative Dairy Company Limited in early 1907.

This short-lived creamery was built on the corner of Richmond and Lincoln Roads for the Moa Farmers Co-operative Dairy Company Limited by Messrs Henwood and Metcalf in time for the beginning of the 1911-1912 season.

This short-lived creamery was built on the Bristol Road for the Moa Farmers Co-operative Dairy Company Limited by Messrs Peterson Bros. in time for the beginning of the 1911-1912 season.

The Oxford Road creamery was erected by the Crown Dairy Company in 1894 to supply the Crown butter factory in Okato 3 kms away.

The Crown Dairy Company originally built a butter factory on the bank of the Ngaere Stream in 1898 before selling the factory to the Eltham Co-operative Dairy Company Limited in 1902.

This creamery was built by the Eltham Co-operative Dairy Company Limited in 1902 on land sub-divided from the property owned by Isaac Sanderson.

The short history of the Waitui Co-operative Dairy Company Limited is really a story in two parts.

The Gordon Road creamery was built in 1903 by the Stratford Farmers’ Co-operative Association Limited on a site purchased from the Crown Dairy Company in August 1902. A Babcock tester was placed in the creamery in 1910 and a post office opened in the creamery in August 1916 with Mr Stewart Clark as the Postmaster.

Although the Makahu Co-operative Dairy Company Limited was originally incorporated in 1902, it would be more than two years before the factory was built and operational. This was almost entirely due to the primitive state of the roads and Makahu’s isolation where the timber and machinery including the huge boiler had to be transported over the steep hill (subsequently tunnelled) and through the then unbridged Mangaehu river by bullock wagons.

The Leith Road creamery was erected by the Crown Dairy Company at the junction of Leith Road and the main highway in late 1897 to supply the Crown butter factory in Okato just under 2kms away. One of the managers was JS Fox and the creamery appears to have closed in 1905 when the Okato & Puniho Co-operative Dairy Factory Limited was incorporated. No known remains.

The Tarata Co-operative Dairy Company Limited was incorporated on 13 July 1897 with capital of £1,000 and with Messrs FW Court, R Baxter, A Neilson, W Purdon, R Paterson, WJ Laurent and JH Horne as the first directors. Mr A Perry was appointed as company secretary.

The Purangi creamery was built on part of section 8 owned by Mr AE Webb around late 1900 to supply cream to the Tarata Co-operative Dairy Company Limited butter factory about 14km away. It appears that a cottage was also built for the creamery manager.