Thursday, 04 August 2022 11:55

Fruitful change?

Written by The Hound

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

OPINION: Your canine crusader notes that meat company Silver Fern Farms has undergone quite a refresh over the last few years.

Once renowned as the bastion of dour, gruff, stern and stubborn types - like Robbie Burnside, Jim Pringle, Stewart Barnett and Keith Cooper - a changing of the guard has seen it embrace trends like 'sustainability', 'net carbon zero' and 'regen ag'.

Many of SFF's new executives have come from outside the meat industry, with current boss Simon Limmer bringing a number of his former Zespri colleagues into the fold.

Many of SFF's old guard would be rolling their eyes - and some in their graves - at these changes

It will be interesting to see how things go if meat returns start turning south or the industry hits tough times again and if the new-look 'fruity' SFF still remains a hit with suppliers and shareholders.

More like this

Silver Fern Farms roadshow highlights global demand

The second event in the Silver Fern Farms ‘Pasture to Plate Roadshow’ landed in Feilding last week, headed by chair and King Country farmer, Anna Nelson, and chief executive Dan Boulton.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

Purist problem

OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.

Drill baby, drill!

OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.

Featured

Fonterra’s $3.2b capital return to farmers set to boost rural incomes and NZ economy

According to ASB, Fonterra's plan to sell it's Anchor and Mainlands brands could inject $4.5 billion in additional spending into the economy.

$2b boost in NZ exports to EU

New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.

US tariffs hit European ag machinery markets

The climate of uncertainty and market fragmentation that currently characterises the global economy suggests that many of the European agricultural machinery manufacturers will be looking for new markets.

Tributes paid to Jim Bolger

Dignitaries from all walks of life – the governor general, politicians past and present, Maoridom- including the Maori Queen, church leaders, the primary sector and family and friends packed Our Lady of Kapiti’s Catholic church in Paraparaumu on Thursday October 23 to pay tribute to former prime Minister, Jim Bolger who died last week.