"The benchmark for performance is, number one, getting those assets to process at an efficiency level that is equivalent to what we have in other platforms and I'm saying about 90 per cent capacity utilisation," Mr Saputo said.

"I think if we have the right investment in the right stainless in the right plant and we can fill those plants to 90 per cent utilisation, by and large, they will be performing."

Saputo, which acquired Murray Goulburn Co-operative in 2017, keeps a tight schedule.

"We have a three-year timeframe from the time we acquire, so we are in year two, so we've got this fiscal year as well as next fiscal year to get to our point of efficiency ratios," he said.

Asked what would happen if Saputo Australia failed to achieve that target, Mr Saputo was non-committal.

"Of course, we'd have to look at the entire platform and see how we can get there, we're still a long way away from that," he said.

Mr Saputo said none of the Australian plants were earmarked for review "at this stage".

"Look, I think we've got the right assets in the right place and it's up to us now to convince suppliers to sell us more milk so we can fill those assets and make them very, very efficient," he said.

Mr Saputo said not all the milk needed to come directly from farmers. "We have three sources of milk," he said. "Our patrons, farmer suppliers, are the first. We will do co-packing and then there's third party milk from our competitors when they have excess milk.

"But I do believe, I certainly hope that, the majority of our milk will come directly from farmers."

He said the company continued to change its offering to farmers.

"Is the handbook perfect? No, it's not, but it's not a sprint, it's a marathon," he said. "We know that when we make changes, they will suit some farmers more than others."

Mr Saputo said his company's share of the Australian raw milk market sat at 23 per cent, giving it a greater footprint here than in its home base of Canada.

"There could be farmers that will choose to supply someone else and then want to come back," he said.

"We'll take them back to the degree that that milk sits within our programs.

"I've said this from day one since we've been in Australia, those suppliers that have been loyal to us, it is our responsibility to make sure that we take 100 per cent of their milk 100 per cent of the time."

Dairy Australia's most recent Situation & Outlook Report showed farmers were switching processors in unprecedented numbers and Mr Saputo said his company was not immune.

"I would say that probably 70 per cent of our milk base is loyal...and 30 per cent is transient," he said.