Winter 2020

BULLETIN ISSUE 27: 2020 28: Autumn Winter 2020

GREENLEA ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR WALLACE ACQUISITION A F E W W O R D S F R O M TO N Y E G A N Greenlea has been successful in a number of strategic relationships over the years, and we are pleased to announce a further collaboration to the mix.

Greenlea Premier Meats, Wilson Hellaby and Glendenburg Holdings have acquired Wallace Group Limited Partnership’s assets based in Waitoa, Feilding and Northland. The acquisition includes all assets associated with the rendering, composting and tannery operations undertaken at the Waitoa site as well as in Northland and Feilding. The new rendering business will be operated as Wallace Proteins Limited owned

by Glenn Smith and Steve Dahlenburg. The hides and skins operation will be jointly owned and operated by Greenlea and Wilson Hellaby trading as Waitoa Tannery Limited. In addition, all parties are involved in a joint composting business and other activities on the site.

This partnership represents a new level of collaboration to create scale and synergy to both rendering and tanning operations. We believe this will further strengthen our business and maximise value for all those who support Greenlea. We are committed to ongoing investment in the future of our industry. It is great to be ensuring existing employment, creating new jobs, and supporting the local community during this difficult economic period. There will be approximately 100 staff employed across all business activities at the Waitoa, Feilding and Northland sites. The three partners share in a vision to grow jobs and the value of production for New Zealand exports and domestic requirements.

We see continued collaboration and partnerships as

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essential to meeting challenging times like we have seen this season. We’ve had global pandemonium with Covid-19 which has severely affected retail and food service and our own ability to run our chains at maximum capacity during a crippling domestic drought.

We have learned that sometimes the best you can do is to keep everyone equally unhappy, but we feel strongly for the stress this has caused our farmer suppliers.

With this in mind, we have kept our prices for stock firmer than many, as we tried to help a little in recent months. On the flip side, we have also seen humanity at its best with people working together to overcome lockdowns and to survive in their bubbles. One aspect of this for us has been the opportunity to work with St Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army to distribute 20 tonnes of mince to the more vulnerable members of our communities. We have done the same up in China, supporting ten homeless shelters for aged care people to acknowledge that the Chinese people have been very important to us when the times were good and are no less so when times are tough.

At this time of the year I am normally getting ready for Fieldays and the opportunity to catch up with a lot of our farmer suppliers from all over the North Island. This year we will miss this opportunity and so having philosophized about the dilemmas of the past 6 months, let me assure you that the outlook for protein demand and beef in particular is positive in the months ahead. We still need to progress our commitment to the environment and climate but never before has there been such great potential to position our products on the world stage.

FINAL ARTICLE IN THE SERIES

IS MEAT OBSOLETE?

For the past three issues we’ve been looking at what I now call the “evil triad” … the three big issues trying to take meat off of our plates. We’ve previously discussed animal welfare and nutrition, and the final article in the series looks at the environment. No one farming animals for food production will be unaware of the argument … whether it’s water quality, soil health or greenhouse gas emissions, the opponents of meat production claim that the costs outweigh the benefits. While in certain cases there are issues that need addressing in New Zealand, the majority of our farmers are proud caretakers of the land and act as environmental stewards of property that has been or will be passed on to the next generation. In general, our grass fed, extensive Kiwi way of farming is natural and in harmony with the land. Our strength will be in telling our story of the way we farm to overseas customers and offering transparency to provide evidence of our story. Greenlea is supportive of Beef + Lamb’s Taste Pure Nature™ branding campaign as it

provides that inclusive New Zealand story along with the “proof” that many consumers want to see. The New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme is the evidence, and the programme is working to incorporate environmental (water, land and biodiversity), social responsibility and biosecurity standards to ensure that we are doing what we say we do. A recent pilot of these standards found that the vast majority were already in compliance with the standards. New Zealand sheep and beef farming has a great story to tell … we just need to do a better job at the storytelling and ensure that we’re not tripped up by a very small minority.

MUDGEY’S COLUMN As I put pen to paper for this column, I just can’t stop thinking ‘has this really happened?’ Yes, we’ve broken free now, we’re out and about and back to normal, following close to two months in lock down, restricted travel and only essential jobs being completed. I loved the cooked breakfast every day with Janny spoiling me rotten with bacon and eggs being the go-to graze each morning!

Phone work certainly continued with what seemed to be longer conversations with all those in contact.

As a country we certainly did well achieving the ultimate [fingers crossed] eliminating Covid-19. Our real heroes – our plant staff, turning up everyday and processing as many as possible given the extremely tough rules to work under and of course, you, our farmer suppliers working under extremely trying seasonal conditions with restricted processing capacity. Thank you for being understanding and waiting for your turn. Hopefully, we never again experience the delays the entire industry has experienced over the last few months.

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Now, with this in mind and looking forward, one has to think how we can change the situation. We all know it won’t be easy this coming season to have cattle ready early with the shocking drought some regions have experienced, fortunately early June has been kind so far, hopefully making winter a little more pleasant for most. If you think you have the ability to produce a few cattle for late August/September even the early part of October, we need to talk - have a chat to your local Greenlea man, Mudgey will come visit and we will make a plan!

The last few months have certainly been a trying time with everything that’s been cast upon us. I get the feeling the next few won’t be too much different – winter issues, calving and lambing just around the corner. Keep an eye on your neighbours or your mates down the road, go catch a fish, play a round of golf, walk a track. We didn’t get to meet and greet at Fieldays this year, so pick up the phone and call, we’re always happy to hear from farmer friends and family. Remember, we are all in this together.

P L ACE YO U R O R D E R & R ECEI V E O U R NEW

Winter Recipe Book Free!

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GREENLEA ACQUISITION OF RESTORE WHOLEFOODS Greenlea is pleased to announce the acquisition of Restore Wholefoods, a chicken and beef bone broth company. This small venture is currently run by a young couple from their home in Te Puna in the Bay of Plenty.

Rebecca Harrison, who is the true heart and soul of Restore, has a passion for her bone broths that is reflected in the care taken with the manufacture of the product and the tremendous taste and quality of the end result. The beef bones are roasted and then cooked for 48 hours to release all the natural goodness in the marrow and bones.

As our grandparents would probably tell us, bone broth is claimed to boost immunity and improve gut health and joint function. Currently, the product is only available domestically to a limited number of retailers in the upper North Island. Greenlea intends to scale up production and move processing to our Morrinsville site. We also will look at increasing domestic availability and taking the product to some of our overseas markets. Adding

value has certainly been the buzz phrase in recent years, and Greenlea is keen to find areas where we can use our existing skills and expertise to move up the value chain for a range of our lower value products such as bones.

We also take great pride in supporting start-up Kiwi businesses that are in need of a capital infusion to take their product to the next level.

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Keep Your Local Rescue Helicopter Moo-ving To donate a beast to the Rescue Helicopter that flies over your farm, visit www.greenlea.co.nz/about/greenlea-rescue-helicopter or contact your Greenlea Sales Agent on 0508 GREENLEA

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SAVE LIVES

THANKS, GREENLEA! The crew from the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter, Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter, TECT Rescue Helicopter and Palmerston North Rescue Helicopter would like to say a big THANK YOU to Greenlea Premier Meats for covering the cost of much needed flight barrier curtains, separating the front and rear helicopter cabin as a distancing safety measure.

The barrier curtains were installed in all four rescue helicopters and will continue to be used past the COVID-19 pandemic to further protect our crew and patients.

Pilot to patient On Saturday 2nd May, Pilot and Base Manager, Nat Every had started his day doing what he does best – flying the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter. Nat and the team had flown a patient to Waikato Hospital that morning. He then decided to go home, not far from base and grab some lunch. Being a pilot, he knew there was a strong north easterly blowing in, and he thought he better tie down a fence that was yet to be completed while at home. While

standing up on a retaining wall, he fell and landed on a fence post. He was taken to Taupo Hospital and ironically colleagues arrived to transport him by the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter.

Nat had sustained a serious injury needing emergency surgery at Tauranga Hospital. 10 days post-surgery, Nat is back doing what he does best with newfound experience of what it is like to receive the incredible care from the crew and ride in the back.

MISSION COUNT APRIL

MAY

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WANT YOUR VERY OWN RESCUE HELICOPTER? You can now purchase your very own Greenlea Rescue Helicopter! Perfect for someone who’s been rescued by the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter, has a passion for aviation, or just wants to donate to charity and receive a gift back. These are available to purchase via our website link below.

We have a limited number of replica helicopters, so get in quick!

RESCUE.ORG.NZ/DONATE/#SECTION-MERCHANDISE The Greenlea Rescue Helicopter is dedicated to serving the central North Island community 24/7, 365 days of the year.

Thank you to Greenlea Premier Meats and their farmers for continuing to support the lifesaving service of the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter.

You’re helping us touch the lives of many people.

Discover more and donate today | 0800 11 10 10 | info@rescue.org.nz rescue.org.nz | @rescuehelicoptersNZ | @rescuehelicoptersNZ