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Speaker 1: Dairy giant Fonterra has delivered a cracker result. Net profit

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Speaker 1: was up eight percent in its first half result to

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Speaker 1: seven hundred and twenty nine million dollars, a dividend of

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Speaker 1: twenty two cents a shell be paid, and the forecast

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Speaker 1: farmgate milk price is sitting at a midpoint of ten

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Speaker 1: dollars per kilo. Myles Harrel is Fonterra's chief executive. Good afternoon,

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Speaker 1: Good afternoon, Tim, Nice to celebrate some good news.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, look, we're really pleased. Are she put out this

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Speaker 2: half ye result up on the pri yea and across

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Speaker 2: all our three sort of key channels performing pretty well.

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Speaker 2: So no, we are. We are pleased to put out

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Speaker 2: this result. Given things to sort of bubbling along a

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Speaker 2: little bit in New Zealand context.

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Speaker 1: What's driving that strong performance?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think it's sort of a macro level, you know,

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Speaker 2: good strong demand for good, healthy product made here in

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Speaker 2: New Zealand. I think is probably the way I describe

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Speaker 2: it at a high level. But you know, boots on

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Speaker 2: the ground and some of our key markets, you know,

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Speaker 2: pushing the great news story of how we farm here

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Speaker 2: in New Zealand, that the benefits of dairy the benefits

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Speaker 2: of protein. You know, it's all all wrapped up in

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Speaker 2: that same sort of story around what we do here

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Speaker 2: in New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: So the forecast at a record high. What's your message

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Speaker 1: to farmers on what to do with such good news

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Speaker 1: and the money that's going to flow in.

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Speaker 2: Well, clearly farmers will make their own calls. But we

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Speaker 2: have come off the back if we remember off a

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Speaker 2: couple of sort of tough years where you know, costs

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Speaker 2: on farm of a sort of skyrocket. Go back to

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Speaker 2: eighty months or so, that inflatory pressure that we saw

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Speaker 2: in New Zealand was exacerbated in rural and rural land landscape.

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Speaker 2: So you know they're going to need some some decent

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Speaker 2: pays to sort of catch up a little bit from

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Speaker 2: where they've come from. So they'll see it as a positive.

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Speaker 2: But at the same time that these are you know,

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Speaker 2: it's a long term game. They'll be looking through the

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Speaker 2: sort of the short term thinking, you know, it's the

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Speaker 2: cyclical business, so we need to watch it into the

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Speaker 2: long term. There's some political clouds on the horizon that

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Speaker 2: may come out away or may not. So you know

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Speaker 2: that they're smart business people on their own right and

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Speaker 2: so they'll they'll they'll take this with open arms and

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Speaker 2: be thankful, I'm sure. But at the same time they'll

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Speaker 2: be looking forward to the next few years.

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Speaker 1: But beyond here now, I always feel as a risky

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Speaker 1: game doing the predictions, doesn't it. Darien New Zealand's reported

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Speaker 1: this week they reckon next you will be another record season.

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Speaker 1: Are you as optimistic.

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Speaker 2: Well off our city today? You know, thing the supply

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Speaker 2: demand position that we see internationally does look in a

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Speaker 2: pretty good position. We've seen the rearmusements of China after

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Speaker 2: again a flowish start last year, so all of those

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Speaker 2: things sort of point in the right direction. But as

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Speaker 2: I refer you know, some of those clouds on the

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Speaker 2: horizon from a geopolitics perspective, you know the macrek and

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Speaker 2: I'm not positioned then they're not that bright. And so

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Speaker 2: if one or two or three of those that have

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Speaker 2: come to the into play, you could push things back

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Speaker 2: a little bit. But as a city today, you know,

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Speaker 2: I think things are healthy and I saw that number

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Speaker 2: from Darien zed and farmers should be see some confidence

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Speaker 2: in that. But where we will be another couple of

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Speaker 2: months away, I guess Before we put out our own

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Speaker 2: forecast for next year, which lock can happen in a

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Speaker 2: couple of months.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, of course, try and tariffs. Do you sort of

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Speaker 1: try and model predictions on what could happen and how

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Speaker 1: much it might impact your business.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we do, well, we sort of run a few scenarios.

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Speaker 2: In all scenarios. You know, when you put sort of

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Speaker 2: tariffs on on business around the world, it's not a

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Speaker 2: great outcome at the highest level, you know. That said,

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Speaker 2: we've pride ourselves as an organization for the last one

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Speaker 2: hundred and fifty years on sort of navigating tricky parts

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Speaker 2: of business, and so you know, we'd like to see

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Speaker 2: that we can see our way through that. We've done

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Speaker 2: it for the last six or twelve months when things

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Speaker 2: haven't been so easy. So you know, I like them

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Speaker 2: we can see our way through that because.

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Speaker 1: You'd be watching developments in India closely. Dairy and India

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Speaker 1: seem to be the two words that don't go together

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Speaker 1: too well. Are you optimistic about the noises you're hearing

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Speaker 1: about a trade deal?

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Speaker 2: Well, well, very pleasing to see that that therey is

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Speaker 2: included in the negotiations, because I guess it was the

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Speaker 2: first hurdle to overcome and so so please to see

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Speaker 2: Prime Minister and this team have done that. We recognize

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Speaker 2: that there's going to be a tough conversation that needs

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Speaker 2: to be had, but you know, they've got a growing

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Speaker 2: middle class. They're going to need more fat, more protein

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Speaker 2: into their diets at a time I don't think that

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Speaker 2: the Indian dairy industry can keep up with that. And

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Speaker 2: so you know, we're not looking to be in there

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Speaker 2: as a wholesale player. We're looking to support them in

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Speaker 2: their own industry goals. So you know, i'd like to

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Speaker 2: think that that those conversations are rational at the right time.

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Speaker 2: But we're here confident at this point.

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Speaker 1: Great and just quickly, where are things at with the

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Speaker 1: sale of your consumer brands?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so we're going hard on the dual track, and

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Speaker 2: by that we mean looking at it at a trade sale.

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Speaker 2: And so we're in discussions now with some Intersted adviyers

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Speaker 2: that are starting to put their bids forward and at

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Speaker 2: the same time running the I p O process. So

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Speaker 2: the road shows are underway and I think the team

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Speaker 2: are in Australia this week, in an Asia next talking

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Speaker 2: to the market and so we should have some clarity

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Speaker 2: within a couple of months or to which way we go,

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Speaker 2: but well advanced and results that we've put out today

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Speaker 2: go a long way to sort of, you know, supporting

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Speaker 2: and cementing that it's a great business that we have there.

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Speaker 1: Hey, Miles, thanks so much for your time. That is

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Speaker 1: Males Harald, chief executive of von Terra. For more from

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