Latest news with #SilverFernFarmsCo-operative
Otago Daily Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Reductions market-driven: SFF
Silver Fern Farms says its focus on emissions reduction is driven by what its customers and markets want. "It's not about the Paris Climate Accord or domestic methane targets. It's wholeheartedly driven by the markets you need to be in," chief executive Dan Boulton told shareholders attending yesterday's annual meeting of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative in Dunedin. Many high-value customers were addressing their own emissions reduction targets while many farmers were also implementing changes on farm to improve efficiencies and reduce emissions. Some might call it woke, but the company's view was that given New Zealand farmers' track record of environmental progress and efficiencies, it would be "irresponsible to walk away from it", he said. Customers were willing to invest in new ways of achieving targets and they were not interested in domestic debate around historic land use change in New Zealand, or that New Zealand contributed only a small percentage of global emissions. "They are only interested in what is in their supply chain," he said. Silver Fern Farms invested $9.1 million in AgriZeroNZ over the last two years, and held a shareholding of about 7.59%. That investment represented about 0.1% of total revenue. Customers in markets who made public commitments represented about 20% of its revenue and that was growing, he said. The investment in AgriZeroNZ was about options to meet that market driver without compromising key market advantages. There were a range of tools AgriZeroNZ was investing in which would go through rigorous testing. Some farmers might not be open to that "direction of travel" and it would not be forced on them. Many would be happy to accept it. He made no apologies about creating options for farmers to make sure they stayed aligned with what the markets wanted, he said. It was about finding solutions and options to address customers needs — to ensure the company maintained market access and its highest-value customers — and make it cost effective and easy to implement on-farm. Earlier this year, Silver Fern Farms announced a $21.8m net loss after tax for the year ended December 31, a $2.6m improvement on last year's result. Revenue was down $144m to $2.6 billion, ebitda was up $16.3m to $32.7m and capital expenditure was more than halved, down to $52.5m. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative, which jointly owns Silver Fern Farms Ltd with Bright Meat Group, recorded a net loss after tax of $10.9m, up from last year's $10.7m loss. Mr Boulton reiterated it was disappointing to post a loss but, without greater cost control and commercial discipline, the result would have been significantly more unfavourable. Looking at the year ahead, livestock volumes were materially lower than expected and the industry had adjusted by removing capacity earlier than was typical. Lamb kill was back 8%, predominantly in the South Island, and national beef kill was back 6% for the season to date. It would be the second consecutive challenging winter for processors, which created downstream challenges, and action and leadership was needed across the industry to address structural issues. Improved pricing was expected to stay around for the foreseeable future and that pricing had been rebuilding confidence in farming, as farmers looked to expand and buy more land. "Coming into this year, we are a fitter, more resilient Silver Fern Farms," he said. Protein demand would outstrip supply for the year ahead and growing concern around food security provided significant opportunities for New Zealand to leverage. "There's a lot to be excited about if you're a producer here in New Zealand," he said. Last year, Silver Fern Farms Co-operative bought a 12.5% stake in Woolworks for $18.486m. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative chairwoman Anna Nelson yesterday said better wool returns were essential for the overall viability of sheep farming. Asked about any potential conflict of interest with outgoing Silver Fern Farms director Rob Hewett being chairman of Woolworks, she said an extensive due diligence process was followed "with Rob firmly out of the room".
Otago Daily Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
'I'm going to miss it like hell,' says retiring Silver Fern Farms director
Outgoing Silver Fern Farms director Rob Hewett at home on his Manuka Gorge farm. PHOTO: SUPPLIED He described yesterday simply as Dog Tucker Day. After 17 years as a director of Silver Fern Farms, and more than 11 of those as chairman, Rob Hewett officially stepped down at 1pm from his governance roles with the company, which he estimated equated to 38% of his total life. "I'm so proud of this company. I'm going to miss it like hell," he said. Reminiscing on his tenure, following the conclusion of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative's annual meeting in Dunedin yesterday, Mr Hewett said he joined the board as a "very green" 38-year-old director. Since then, revenue had trebled, a rebrand had been completed and a market-led strategy rolled out "and become simply the way things are done". He recalled a meeting in December 2014 which he attended as the newly minted chairman, facing "relatively hostile" bank representatives in a meeting room in Auckland to tell them why Silver Fern Farms was worth persevering with. As the subsequent rebuild began, with the intention of attracting investors, any mis-step was likely to lead to "shut up the shop". Customers had to be kept happy with sales moving through and the company had to keep within very tight banking covenant conditions. "There's nothing like a crisis to align the directors of the board, who never wavered from the trajectory we were on," he said. Shanghai Maling - now Bright Meat Group - joined the co-operative in a partnership and Silver Fern Farms "finally had air under its wings and our ascendance was remarkable", he said. Over the years, hundreds of millions had been invested in capital projects, offshore offices had been established to complement the existing network and branded product was available in all New Zealand supermarkets and offshore. "Silver Fern Farms is a globally recognised high-quality red meat brand," he said. As for the future? There was "plenty on". Geopolitically, it had not been this tumultuous for a long time, possibly since pre-World War 2. Silver Fern Farms' position as a company, and New Zealand's as a country, in the world needed to be carefully navigated and New Zealand exporters needed to face issues together. Overcapacity in the red meat sector was well documented and, unfortunately, there was "more heavy lifting to do". Silver Fern Farms would have to do its share as would everyone else. He was continually mindful of the challenges facing livestock farmers, and he was very proud to be a sheep and beef farmer from South Otago - "that's what keeps it real" - and profitability behind the farm gate was critical. Describing himself as an optimist, Mr Hewett said he saw possibilities rather than reasons for not doing things. Land use change would continue but the simple fact was people needed to eat.
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
‘So proud' of firm, retiring director says
Outgoing Silver Fern Farms director Rob Hewett at home on his Manuka Gorge farm. PHOTO: SUPPLIED He described yesterday simply as Dog Tucker Day. After 17 years as a director of Silver Fern Farms, and more than 11 of those as chairman, Rob Hewett officially stepped down at 1pm from his governance roles with the company, which he estimated equated to 38% of his total life. "I'm so proud of this company. I'm going to miss it like hell," he said. Reminiscing on his tenure, following the conclusion of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative's annual meeting in Dunedin yesterday, Mr Hewett said he joined the board as a "very green" 38-year-old director. Since then, revenue had trebled, a rebrand had been completed and a market-led strategy rolled out "and become simply the way things are done". He recalled a meeting in December 2014 which he attended as the newly minted chairman, facing "relatively hostile" bank representatives in a meeting room in Auckland to tell them them why Silver Fern Farms was worth persevering with. As the subsequent rebuild began, with the intention of attracting investors, any mis-step was likely to lead to "shut up the shop". Customers had to be kept happy with sales moving through and the company had to keep within very tight banking covenant conditions. "There's nothing like a crisis to align the directors of the board, who never wavered from the trajectory we were on," he said. Shanghai Maling - now Bright Meat Group - joined the co-operative in a partnership and Silver Fern Farms "finally had air under its wings and our ascendance was remarkable", he said. Over the years, hundreds of millions had been invested in capital projects, offshore offices had been established to complement the existing network and branded product was available in all New Zealand supermarkets and offshore. "Silver Fern Farms is a globally recognised high-quality red meat brand," he said. As for the future? There was "plenty on". Geopolitically, it had not been this tumultuous for a long time, possibly since pre-World War 2. Silver Fern Farms' position as a company, and New Zealand's as a country, in the world needed to be carefully navigated and New Zealand exporters needed to face issues together. Overcapacity in the red meat sector was well documented and, unfortunately, there was "more heavy lifting to do". Silver Fern Farms would have to do its share as would everyone else. He was continually mindful of the challenges facing livestock farmers, and he was very proud to be a sheep and beef farmer from South Otago - "that's what keeps it real" - and profitability behind the farm gate was critical. Describing himself as an optimist, Mr Hewett said he saw possibilities rather than reasons for not doing things. Land use change would continue but the simple fact was people needed to eat.
Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Cutting emissions market-driven: SFF
Silver Fern Farms says its focus on emissions reduction is driven by what its customers and markets want. "It's not about the Paris Climate Accord or domestic methane targets. It's wholeheartedly driven by the markets you need to be in," chief executive Dan Boulton told shareholders attending yesterday's annual meeting of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative in Dunedin. Many high-value customers were addressing their own emissions reduction targets while many farmers were also implementing changes on farm to improve efficiencies and reduce emissions. Some might call it woke, but the company's view was that given New Zealand farmers' track record of environmental progress and efficiencies, it would be "irresponsible to walk away from it", he said. Customers were willing to invest in new ways of achieving targets and they were not interested in domestic debate around historic land use change in New Zealand, or that New Zealand contributed only a small percentage of global emissions. "They are only interested in what is in their supply chain," he said. Silver Fern Farms invested $9.1 million in AgriZeroNZ over the last two years, and held a shareholding of about 7.59%. That investment represented about 0.1% of total revenue. Customers in markets who made public commitments represented about 20% of its revenue and that was growing, he said. The investment in AgriZeroNZ was about options to meet that market driver without compromising key market advantages. There were a range of tools AgriZeroNZ was investing in which would go through rigorous testing. Some farmers might not be open to that "direction of travel" and it would not be forced on them. Many would be happy to accept it. He made no apologies about creating options for farmers to make sure they stayed aligned with what the markets wanted, he said. It was about finding solutions and options to address customers needs — to ensure the company maintained market access and its highest-value customers — and make it cost effective and easy to implement on-farm. Earlier this year, Silver Fern Farms announced a $21.8m net loss after tax for the year ended December 31, a $2.6m improvement on last year's result. Revenue was down $144m to $2.6 billion, ebitda was up $16.3m to $32.7m and capital expenditure was more than halved, down to $52.5m. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative, which jointly owns Silver Fern Farms Ltd with Bright Meat Group, recorded a net loss after tax of $10.9m, up from last year's $10.7m loss. Mr Boulton reiterated it was disappointing to post a loss but, without greater cost control and commercial discipline, the result would have been significantly more unfavourable. Looking at the year ahead, livestock volumes were materially lower than expected and the industry had adjusted by removing capacity earlier than was typical. Lamb kill was back 8%, predominantly in the South Island, and the national beef kill was back 6% for the season to date. It would be the second consecutive challenging winter for processors, which created downstream challenges, and action and leadership was needed across the industry to address structural issues. Improved pricing was expected to stay around for the foreseeable future and that pricing had been rebuilding confidence in farming, as farmers looked to expand and buy more land. "Coming into this year, we are a fitter, more resilient Silver Fern Farms," he said. Protein demand would outstrip supply for the year ahead and growing concern around food security provided significant opportunities for New Zealand to leverage. "There's a lot to be excited about if you're a producer here in New Zealand," he said. Last year, Silver Fern Farms Co-operative bought a 12.5% stake in Woolworks for $18.486m. Silver Fern Farms Co-operative chairwoman Anna Nelson yesterday said better wool returns were essential for the overall viability of sheep farming. Asked about any potential conflict of interest with outgoing Silver Fern Farms director Rob Hewett being chairman of Woolworks, she said an extensive due diligence process was followed "with Rob firmly out of the room".
