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Tai Tapu Dairy Factory
Description
NameTai Tapu Dairy Factory
Description"The Tai Tapu Dairy Factory was an important business for many years, situated where the electricity sub-station now stands.
Farmers initially transported their milk to the dairy by horse and cart, where it was separated. Later, most farmers acquired their own separators and their cream was collected by company cars or trucks from roadside stands.
By 1903 the Tai Tapu Dairy Company was producing 210 tons of butter every season, and was the first New Zealand butter factory to send butter overseas.
The business shifted to Christchurch in 1920, and was amalgamated with the Central Dairy Company in 1943, which had been operating with its Fern Leaf brand, since 1921. Later, as the Tai Tapu Central Co-operative Dairy Company, on Moorhouse Avenue in Christchurch, the business developed a market for its Fern Leaf butter, which took the name of Tai Tapu to all corners of the world."
Source: Gordon Ogilvie, The Port Hills of Christchurch (2009)Start Date1888
Description"The Tai Tapu Dairy Factory was an important business for many years, situated where the electricity sub-station now stands. Farmers initially transported their milk to the dairy by horse and cart, where it was separated. Later, most farmers acquired their own separators and their cream was collected by company cars or trucks from roadside stands.
By 1903 the Tai Tapu Dairy Company was producing 210 tons of butter every season, and was the first New Zealand butter factory to send butter overseas.
The business shifted to Christchurch in 1920, and was amalgamated with the Central Dairy Company in 1943, which had been operating with its Fern Leaf brand, since 1921. Later, as the Tai Tapu Central Co-operative Dairy Company, on Moorhouse Avenue in Christchurch, the business developed a market for its Fern Leaf butter, which took the name of Tai Tapu to all corners of the world."
Source: Gordon Ogilvie, The Port Hills of Christchurch (2009)
Start Date1888Connections
PublicationViolet Day Cookbook 1928ImageFarmers and Tai Tapu Cooperative Dairy CompanyMore Information1901 image of the Tai Tapu Dairy Factory1908 image of the directors of the Tai Tapu Dairy CompanyCollection of NZ Butter Wrappers including Fern Leaf butter1963 jubilee booklet produced by the Tai Tapu Central Co-operative Dairy Company for its 75th anniversary1975 History of Canterbury Creameries by W. J. Harris1975 History of Canterbury Creameries by W. J. Harris1908 image of Tai Tapu Dairy Company1925 Tai Tapu Dairy Advertisement
ImageFarmers and Tai Tapu Cooperative Dairy CompanyMore Information1901 image of the Tai Tapu Dairy Factory1908 image of the directors of the Tai Tapu Dairy CompanyCollection of NZ Butter Wrappers including Fern Leaf butter1963 jubilee booklet produced by the Tai Tapu Central Co-operative Dairy Company for its 75th anniversary1975 History of Canterbury Creameries by W. J. Harris1975 History of Canterbury Creameries by W. J. Harris1908 image of Tai Tapu Dairy Company1925 Tai Tapu Dairy AdvertisementTai Tapu Dairy Factory. Selwyn Stories, accessed 20/03/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/5561
