Our Story

Our farms have been founded on passion, innovation and hard work. We’re passionate about bringing pure wholesome sheep milk products to the world.

Video Showcase

Listen in as we talk about our journey to convert Waikino Station into a high producing dairy sheep farm.

We discuss the challenges and hurdles we faced as we established the farm and talk about our innovative genetics programme which is changing the landscape of dairy sheep farming in New Zealand.

Meet The Team

We have a small, committed team who are dedicated to improving dairy sheep genetics and farming systems so we can produce pure and nutritious sheep milk for the world.

Paul McGilvary

Chairman of the Board

Peter Gatley

General Manager

Jake Chardon

Geneticist

Marion Benoit

Geneticist

Katy Day

Manager at Waikino Station

Leah Davey

CEO

Ross Dellaway

Manager at WKT Dairy Unit

Doreen Dellaway

2IC at WKT Dairy Unit

A Brief History

Over the past decade, we’ve worked hard to develop showcase dairy sheep farms in the heart of New Zealand. It’s taken time, commitment and a passionate team.

Sheep Milking Commenced

The Waituhi Kuratau Trust started milking sheep on their farm situated alongside Lake Taupo.

New Partnership

The Shanghai Bewell marketing company and Waituhi Kuratau Trust formed a joint venture called Maui Milk to create a secure supply of NZ sheep milk products for Asian markets.

Sheep Milk Genetics Programme Established

Geneticists Peter Gatley and Jake Chardon attended the NZ Sheep Milk Conference to investigate opportunities to create a genetic improvement programme. They met the joint venture partners and joined the team.

New Farm Established

December 2017 – A new farm called Waikino Station, also on the shores of Lake Taupo, was purchased and converted to a dairy sheep operation. We created a hybrid (indoor/outdoor) farm system, built a French internal rotary milking platform, cultivated an extensive area of lucerne for grazing and silage making, and established a unique breeding programme incorporating all three of the world’s leading breeds of dairy sheep.

To Date

To date, all milk has been taken by tanker to Innovation Park in Hamilton where it has been processed into pure whole milk powder. Planning is currently underway to expand the product range.

Keep in touch with Maui Milk