"Our" business?
OPINION: One particular bone the Hound has been gnawing on for years now is how the chattering classes want it both ways when it comes to the success of NZ's dairy industry.
Outgoing Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings says the normal tenure of a global chief executive is between five and seven years.
Spierings, who will complete seven years at Fonterra in September, says he will be working towards “a high quality handover”.
Discussing his exit from Fonterra was “an awkward moment that doesn’t happen too often in life”.
But he says in big companies it was very normal to look at succession plans.
“When I came I said I see really Fonterra as the envy of the dairy world; actually that’s what it is.
“We are the highest paying co-op in terms of cash payout in the world and I’m extremely proud of it.”
Spierings admits not everything has gone according to plan over the last seven years.
The controversial Beingmate investment in China remains an issue for the co-op.
Spierings says choosing Beingmate was the right decision.
He noted that when Fonterra chose Beingmate in 2014, it was the leading local infant nutrition brand in China; founder and majority shareholder Xie Hong had been named entrepreneur of the year.
“Yes, that was the right decision but we have certainly learnt lessons since then.
“China evolves very quickly; to have 18.8% stake in a publicly listed company in China with regulations increasing pretty quickly is not easy, to say it mildly.”
He says Beingmate and its founder were also slow to embrace e-commerce.
But he says Fonterra is not looking for a new partner in the infant formula sector in China.
Alliance has announced a series of capital raise roadshow event, starting on 29 September in Tuatapere, Southland.
State farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) has announced a new equity partnership in an effort to support pathways to farm ownership for livestock farm operators.
Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.
Brett Wotton, an Eastern Bay of Plenty kiwifruit grower and harvest contractor, has won the 2025 Kiwifruit Innovation Award for his work to support lifting fruit quality across the industry.
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