Ownership picture complex

Press, 21 October 1986, Page 14

Ownership picture complex

PA Wellington Because the meat industry restructuring exercise is not yet over, it is difficult to know who exactly owns what, industry observers say.

But it seems the CrownWeddel Group is emerging as the second-biggest meat exporter after Wat-tie-Waitaki. This is based on output from four works in the North Island — at Whangarei (bought two weeks ago from Elders), Auckland, Hastings, and Cambridge.

Weddel is a subsidiary of the British-based Vestey family whose network includes 1400 food retail outlets in Britain and big cattle ranches in South America and Australia.

Weddel Crown is joining W. Richmond at Whakatu in a deal which is not yet clear. The Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company (Affco), a 100 per cent farmer-owned company, is No. 3. It owns works at Whangarei, Taumarunui, Mamaku, Moerewa,

Hamilton and Te Puke. Next is the Primary Producers’ Co-operative Society (P.P.C.S.), also a farmer company, which owns two works in Christchurch and others at Ashburton and Timaru.

W. Richmond is mostly owned by long-established Hawke’s Bay farming families.

Alliance, with works at Invercargill and Bluff, is the fourth farmer-owned company but is more along the lines of Affco and P.P.C.S.

Fletcher Challenge owns works at Dunedin, Mataura and Invercargill, and Brierley has a beef plant at Eltham, a pig plant at Hamilton, and Riverlands at Blenheim.

The smaller companies are C. S. Stevens with two works in Christchurch, T. H. Walker (owned by Mr Graeme Lowe) with beef plants at Hawera and Paeroa, and Phoenix, with just one works, at Greymouth. Waitaki and P.P.C.S. each own per cent.