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Introduction
Regional rural co-operatives emerged in many provinces in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They played an important role in supporting the early farming endeavours and the development of rural communities. They were formed with a sense of shared purpose as ruggedly individual farmers sought to ensure honest markets for their farming inputs and the produce of their farms.
One by one the regional rural co-operatives disappeared. Most were absorbed into the large mercantile firms. Only one adapted, changed its corporate form, and survived independently. This is the story of the business that started with one Arthur A. Fantham, became The Farmers’ Co-operative Organisation Society of New Zealand Limited and finally Allied Farmers Limited. While the business has grown and changed, it has kept its heart in its home province, Taranaki.
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The reason that this organisation has survived and flourished is a story of evolution and adaptation. It is a story of bravery and commitment in tough times. But most of all it is a story of people, people with a culture of service, of going the extra mile and of commitment to the farmers and province. In return there has been a loyalty from the province to the organisation.
The Farmers Co-operative earned enormous respect for the way that it stood by farmers in the Great Depression of the 1930s. It was a different group of farmers that stood by the company in the company’s own difficult times in 1987. They not only pulled Farmers’ Co-op back from the brink of the commercial abyss, but they laid a platform for wider expansion in a new future.
Allied Farmers stands today as a listed public company, but with a large ownership stake held by small Taranaki shareholders. This reflects its heritage, its relationship with its heartland and the foundations for its future.
This book records the story of what has made this company truly special and the people who have made contributions along the way to build that special character that is Allied Farmers Limited.
John J. Loughlin Chairman of Directors ALLIED FARMERS LIMITED 23 May 2009
