[Mandatum]

Because meat isn't as commoditized, there's too many different grades and products. When 70%+ of your output turns into shelf-stable milk powder, it's all the same. Fonterra has kept local milk supplies in New Zealand at export prices for more than 15 years. It wasn't until recently that smaller independent co-op's formed and began selling processor-to-table and exporting themselves.

However now many of the processors are owned by the same companies or people, so processors who'd previously deal with these co-ops are signing exclusivity deals with Fonterra and they're being shut out of the market.

But we also have the income and GDP brought by Fonterra for the last 10-15 years to thank. Unfortunately we're seeing a lot of those profits off-shored or eaten up by corporate middlemen owned by conglomerates now.

[chrisseaton]

Meat is literally traded as a commodity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_Hog