Interesting article..., page-3

Which strategic change is he referring to?

Farm aggregation? Well, ACE Farming seems to have made a good return on that one and become the largest dairy farm aggregator in Australia. Dairy Holdings Ltd in New Zealand also seems to have made a good go at it as well with the largest dairy holdings in New Zealand and a major supplier to Fonterra with a damn good yield for its owners as well. They had an early adopter lead and prices as well as funding were good at the time but they let this one slip.

Vertical integration? Well others seem to have taken this one and run, hard. AHF went off with CDC to play in a space they hadn't though through very well. History evidences where they missed the mark here too.

Niche products? Umm happy cows and free range cows are going to change the world...specially with the micro-scale boutique they were espousing. Even the media raised their eyebrows and had a bit of a chuckle at that one.

Partnering? Lian He, Lencia, ODFC, other undisclosed secret squirrel ones that were too sensitive to be announced. Oh look! The largest organic dairy co-operative in Australia but wait....isn't that arrangement now dead?

Organic? 3 years in the making whilst the other operators in the organics space are up and running, for example: Schultz and then there is the value add operators seeking a slice of the organic milk market: BAL (imported powder), WHA (locked in deal for most of ODFC organic milk) are the two stand-outs that could wipe out AHF tomorrow purely on strategic nimbleness.

So let me see...Market Cap is around $40m and yet a late comer to the dairy sector but an agile one, WHA has a Market Cap of about $195m after only listing about 16 months ago. There are others that are so far ahead in terms of strategic capability it is embarrassing.

It has been profitable for the Board and friends & family....isn't that a sustainable return?