Speaking at a shareholder and supplier meeting in Oamaru, Mr Taggart said there had been much media commentary on industry structure and what should be done about it.
There were only two ways to restructure the industry: using legislation - ''and we think that's extremely unlikely'' - and cash ''or, in other words, the commercial solution''.
Despite ''all the rhetoric and chest beating'' in the media, the simple fact was that no-one had come up with an alternative commercial solution, he said.
''Certainly, as a company, we're open to any commercial opportunities that stack up, but they've got to stack up.
''We're not going to just do it to save the industry or save some other company; that's not what we're about,'' he said.
The company was ''pretty confident'' its throughput and capacity were reasonably well aligned, but there was still significant overcapacity in the industry and that was a bit of a challenge, he said.
The meat side had gone ''pretty well'', and generally most markets were improving, but co-products such as pelts and casings had been challenging.
In terms of the board, an announcement on a replacement for independent director John Waller, who retired about a month ago, should be made shortly and he was ''very pleased'' with the calibre of his replacement, Mr Taggart said.
Supplier directors John Lindsay and Dawn Sangster retired by rotation this year and both were standing for re-election.
Chief executive Grant Cuff, who will step down at the annual meeting in December, was leaving the company probably in the best position of any company in the industry, Mr Taggart said.
Looking at the year ahead, lamb looked like it would be ''OK'', prices being similar to last season, with a possible increase to $100, Mr Cuff said.
Sheep would be similar to last year at about $75-$90 and beef would be ''really OK'', with a possible increase of $1 a kg. Venison, which was ''picking up'', was expected to be similar to last year, with a possible 10c-20c increase.
The rapid increase in manufacturing beef product for the United States was ''huge'' and the question was how long it would last.
Price increases had not fed through to consumers yet. As they did, demand would decline and the price would start coming down, but he still expected next year would be a good year for New Zealand beef producers, Mr Cuff said.
Pelt prices had been under pressure since China closed tanneries to combat pollution and he expected it would take about a year to get things balanced again.
Market diversification was ''essential''. Alliance Group had been in China for 15-odd years and in Brazil for a couple of years and it was just starting in India, with very small volumes.
Traditional markets were ''still really good'', taking less product but paying more for it.
Meat Industry Excellence deputy chairman Mark Patterson said Alliance Group had improved in three areas highlighted by MIE and shareholder groups over the past 12 months.
These were strategic planning, although this was still ''a bit light on detail''; communication to shareholders; and improved election systems, including electronic voting.
But there was still no sign of the kind of industry leadership Alliance Group would need to move towards change in the industry, he said.
It was more important than ever to get the right people around the co-operative board tables and farmers would have a chance to continue that process at the upcoming elections, he said.