Remnant of the past

In 1935, there were "well over" 100 dairy factories in Taranaki, New Plymouth historian Ron Lambert says.

And while numerous old factories still remain, they are not in such complete condition as the one at Kaupokonui, he says, and they are disappearing all the time.

The dairy factory at Kaupokonui was built in 1897 by the Kaupokonui Cooperative Dairy Company.

The original wooden building burned down in 1910 and was replaced by a concrete building, which was up in time for the beginning of the next season in the middle of 1911.

That was the first of a number of additions over the years.

Soon after the factory was built, it had its own hydroelectric scheme.

The source of this power was the adjacent Kaupokonui River, in which Climie and Fairhall, a local engineering and surveying firm, had designed a weir and system of tunnels and channels in 1900, New Zealand Historic Places Trust researcher Karen Astwood writes in the trust's registration report.

"This weir was a rock-filled structure which enabled water to be diverted through the tunnel and race up to the factory, and later the powerhouse, which contained the turbines necessary for completing the process."

A new weir was built in 1941 by Inglewood bridge builder and hedgecutter Lou Butler, after the original one was destroyed by a flood. Butler's was made of concrete.

By 1911 the energy generated by the hydro scheme supplied the company with enough electricity to enable electric lighting in the factory and other onsite buildings, such as the powerhouse, manager's cottage, general store, office and stables.

"Hydroelectric capabilities were of particular importance to the Kaupokonui factory and company, as it gave them a distinct advantage over many of their competitors, at least for a couple of decades," the report says.

In its early years, the factory relied on three five-horse teams to cart products to the railhead at Hawera, but by 1919, the company had an electric truck.

While electric vehicles weren't that common, it wasn't unique to Kaupokonui. Apparently there were at least three other dairy factories in Taranaki with electric trucks. However, the Kaupokonui truck didn't work that well because it was a "poor hill climber".

Ms Astwood says that in 1910, the Kaupokonui Cooperative Dairy Co Ltd was "reputedly the most prolific dairy company in New Zealand, and possibly the world, with its product accounting for approximately one eighth of New Zealand's total export of cheese in 1908".

By the 1950s, Kaupokonui had seven major branches around the area and was a major force in the the Taranaki dairy industry.

In 1963, the Kaupokonui Dairy Co amalgamated with the TL Joll cooperative to form Kiwi Dairies. In 1991, Kiwi Dairies merged with Moanui in North Taranaki. And in 2001, Kiwi Dairies merged with Waikato-based New Zealand Dairy Group to form Fonterra.

The Kaupokonui factory was still operational up until 1975. Later that year, the Pacific Natural Gut String Co Ltd began manufacturing tennis racket strings on the site.