"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.
Fonterra staff could be facing another wave of job cuts next month.
Last week, the co-op said 523 jobs would go in September from its central procurement, finance, information services, human resources, strategy and legal teams.
And it says that on August 5 it will begin consulting on new business structures with people in administration, ingredients sales, consumer, marketing, R&D, communications, health and safety, food safety and quality, group resilience and risk, property, procurement and change management.
The 523 roles will be disestablished at a one-off cost of $12m-$15m, making payroll savings of $55m-$60m.
Chief executive Theo Spierings says the news had been unsettling for the people affected but the co-op had to change to remain strongly competitive in today’s global dairy market.
“Reducing the number of roles in our business isn’t about individual competency; it’s about continually improving the way we perform.”
Spierings says the co-op’s leaders are working to increase value right across the organisation.
“The key aims of the review are to ensure the cooperative is best placed to successfully deliver its strategy, increase focus on generating cashflow, and implement specific, sustainable measures for enhancing efficiency.
“A simple example already identified by our supply chain team is [better use] of export containers leaving our distribution centres, saving up to $5m a year.”
The review includes measures to improve profitability in Fonterra’s Australian business and extra measures to achieve more value.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
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