Editorial: Punching Above Our Weight
OPINION: With 10,500 dairy farms, New Zealand continues to punch above its weight around the world.
Fonterra chairman John Monaghan says Tip Top’s new owner, Froneri is doing a great job looking after its former employees.
He told the co-op’s annual meeting in Invercargill today that selling Tip Top wasn’t easy.
“We knew it wouldn’t be a popular decision with some of you, but it was the right call.
“Was it an iconic business? Yes. Was it on strategy and a key part of our future? Definitely not.
“Once we took the emotion out of the process, making that call was easy: we divested it as a mature asset for a great price.”
Monaghan says Froneri has retained all former Fonterra employees, who have kept their jobs as part of the deal.
Fonterra has used the proceeds to help reduce debt levels and give it more options for the future.
It has sold its stake in Venezuelan consumer joint venture, Corporacion Inlaca, and its 50% share of DFE Pharma – a joint venture with FrieslandCampina.
“We are considering our options for our ownership of our China Farms, Dairy Partners Americas which is our joint venture in Brazil, and have begun the process of sellingdown our 18.8% shareholding in Beingmate.”
Signing up to a benchmarking tool is not about competition, but about improving collectively, says Ximena Puig and Alvaro Luzardo who are 50-50 sharemilkers at a 164-hectare (effective) dairy farm in Eketāhuna in the Lower North Island.
A leading British farming politician says he's impressed with the positive attitude of New Zealand farmers that he met during his recent trip here.
OPINION: With 10,500 dairy farms, New Zealand continues to punch above its weight around the world.
The Southern Dairy Hub (SDH), which runs a demonstration farm for South Island farmers, has a new general manager.
Esther Guy-Meakin has been announced as the new chief executive of the New Zealand Meat Board (NZMB).
According to a progress report on the Aotearoa Horticulture Action Plan (AHAP), New Zealand's horticulture sector is making real progress on the big issues facing growers.