Back and better!

Chief executive Simon Limmer told more than a 1,000 farmers attending the company's farmer forum in Christchurch earlier this month that the last two months has seen its people back travelling to the 60 global markets SFF exports to, after about two years absence due to Covid restrictions.

"The partnerships we have had for many decades have served us very well and the relationships we have developed have allowed us to sell and sell really well into these markets."

Limmer says SFF's China team now numbers around 25 people, up from just two about three years ago.

"This demonstrates where we are heading with our engagement by capturing customers and being closer to our markets and consumers," he explained. "Thank God we put this in place before Covid hit as I know our colleagues in the sector have had a much tougher time."

Limmer told farmers that he'd been on three trips to the US in the past two months himself.

"That was an eye opener for me in terms of getting back up and connecting with customers and hearing what is going on. It is a dynamic world that we are a long, long way from," he added. "It is imperative that we get back up into our markets and continue those relationships."

Limmer said SFF had continued on its journey of keeping its brand prominent and launching new products into the market. He described its net carbon zero beef as an example of this.

"That was one of the promises we made last year and we followed on with launching it in the market."

Limmer added that operationally the world could not have been more complicated for the company. "In 2021-22 we were faced with challenges of Covid, supply chain disruption and labour constraints. It just kept on coming at us but the teams kept on finding solutions."

Limmer told the conference that SFF was in the middle of one of the toughest years ever but also acknowledged that farmers were experiencing this as well. He said, despite these challenges, SFF had continued to invest in the business.

"We have invested around $200 million of capital back into the business over the last four years and that is way above what we were able to do over the past 10 years."

Limmer said this investment stretched across infrastructure, plants, people and digital capability. He added that SFF was trading about 20% above its five-year averages.

"The company performances speaks for itself," he added.

"Our direction is good and we delivered our five year plan in about three.

"That is really satisfying that we have managed to make such good progress."

Limmer said there was more to do to ensure it paid its best farmers the best prices - as farmers needed to be thriving for the company to thrive.

He said the company's new future statement - creating goodness from the farms the world needs - captured the direction it was heading in.

Limmer added that SFF was embarking on sometimes "confronting" nature-positive and land-based solutions.

Challenges Ahead

Simon Limmer described the future ahead as "choppy".

"The markets are in recession and inflation is impacting on consumes around the world," he said.

"We are seeing Covid still lingering nearly three years on, the supply chain is disrupted and what happens next is anyone's guess."

Limmer said the company had a lot of hard work to keep navigating on what is happening in the market.

"At home, land use change is impacting on livestock numbers and proving to be a real challenge."

Limmer said the labour situation in NZ is no longer seasonal but institutional. "This is something we have to think about in a different way than what we have done in the past."

However, despite these choppy waters, Limmer believes SFF is now a solid vessel that can help navigate these waters.

"We have zero long-term debts, the financial capability and direction of travel in the business is all very clear," he added. "There is only one destination and we will only ever win in the market."