Friday, March 29, 2024

BLOG: Don’t lose any of Wilson’s passion

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The death this week of former Fonterra chairman John Wilson is being felt across the agricultural sector. Regardless of one’s view of the co-operative’s business decisions it’s impossible to fault Wilson’s commitment to the dairy industry and the farmers whose milk it runs.
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The essence of milk is how we came to have co-operatives as the main business structure for dairy, of course. It’s perishable so farmers banded together to ensure it was collected and processed in a timely and, hopefully, lucrative manner. Being owned by farmers, co-operatives were invariably run by farmers and Wilson was one himself.

The formation of Fonterra, though, with its immense size, catapulted the co-op into being a global player in the industry. That has both opportunities and challenges.

As our story outlines, Wilson was instrumental in guiding Fonterra through some challenging times and making structural changes he saw as important in ensuring the co-operative’s success.

After interviewing Wilson I was always left in absolutely no doubt he was completely committed to the co-operative and growing it for the good of shareholders. Judging by the tributes this week it is clear those who knew and worked with him were also inspired by his passion for his co-operative and for New Zealand farming.

Farming can be a demoralising industry to work in sometimes and it will take leaders who can communicate, emapathise and strategise to navigate the times ahead. The torch has been passed to a new leadership team now and while they might veer from Wilson’s ideas, they’d be foolish to lose any of his passion.

Bryan Gibson

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