Fonterra says meeting with Nicola Willis 'constructive'
Photo:
Fonterra says its
meeting with the Finance Minister
was "constructive", following a discussion about butter prices.
But the substance of the discussions is still to be revealed.
Nicola Willis had alerted Fonterra, as a courtesy, that she planned to speak about
the price of butter
in one of their regular meetings.
Willis had earlier said the conversation would look at what goes into the cost, and
whether supermarkets are to blame
, pointing out Australia seems to have cheaper butter than New Zealand.
She said Fonterra was transparent about how it determined milk prices, but it was less clear to her how that then translated to butter.
"What we're talking about here is at the margin - 10 or 20 cents - but 10 or 20 cents really matters when you're a Kiwi family at the supermarket checkout."
The meeting happened at Parliament on Tuesday evening.
Willis' office declined to comment on the outcome.
Fonterra's chief executive Miles Hurrell also would not comment on the meeting when RNZ approached him outside Parliament.
But a Fonterra spokesperson said Hurrell "had a constructive meeting with the Finance Minister" and he would talk to media later in the week.
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