Taupo company Miraka might be small but chief executive Richard Wyeth believes that gives it an edge and allows it to show dairy industry leadership.
Not being hamstrung by the challenges and complexities of a large company Miraka has been able to put itself at the forefront of tackling some big issues.
Kaitiakitanga – guardianship, protection, sustainability – is one of Miraka’s key values and is an area where it is taking the lead.
“Protecting the environment in which we operate is of such high importance to everyone at Miraka and our shareholders,” Wyeth says.
“We want to make sure that future generations benefit from the work we are doing.
“Things like the renewable geothermal energy, worm farming and closed-loop recycling at the factory are all part of that.
“We can take a long-term view on things and instead of telling farmers ‘you must do this’ we’re saying ‘hey, let’s incentivise our farmers to do better’.
“Miraka is very much about nurturing our world and by encouraging our farmers to improve in this space and getting the Miraka story out there to the consumers we can start to demand a higher premium for our products.”
The incentive scheme, Te Ara Miraka, rewards suppliers for meeting five criteria – people, environment, animal welfare, milk quality, and prosperity. Farmers can earn a 20c/kg MS extra at the end of the season.
“The public perception of farming in general and dairying, in particular, is challenging. All farmers should be really positive with returns being strong but many are in a bit of a negative space.
“It’s a balance of keeping farmers upbeat but also showing urbanites that there are farmers out there doing a great job and making changes and improvements and that’s a little bit of where Te Ara Miraka fits in.”
Being the people person he is Wyeth is passionate about looking after and nurturing his team and has enjoyed watching some amazing people go through the company and flourish.
“When we established the UHT plant we had to hire another 40 staff for that operation.
“Many of those staff hadn’t come from dairy or UHT so we invested a lot into training in getting through those early stages but now it’s so satisfying because every single one of those people could go and work in any dairy plant in the world with what they’ve learned here.”
While he admits it can be challenging to maintain a positive workplace culture, especially as the company grows, it’s sometimes just the simple things that have the biggest effect.
“We talk to people, get to know what’s going on. Organising fun activities, team events and family days is always a big hit. The inter-company volleyball challenge is always a bit of a highlight as well.
“We just try to make sure there’s something for everyone to enjoy. It does get hard but we’ve been pretty successful at establishing and continuing a great culture and I’m really proud of that.”
Despite having a team of 130-odd, being the boss can be isolating at times, just one of the many challenges of being a chief executive.
“For me the satisfaction of looking back and being part of something that people are proud of is probably the best thing.”
He has led that since the beginning and has a long history in agricultural and dairy but as a child he wasn’t sure what he wanted to be. While his peers wanted to be doctors, rock stars and rugby players he had no fixed ideas.
While his first job, a dagging and crutching gang he set up with a friend when he was at school, earned him some pocket money and kept him out of trouble he needed to satisfy the organiser in him and says he’s definitely ticked that box now.
“I’ve always enjoyed organising things and growing up I didn’t know what that would look like for a career.
“If there was ever something to be organised I was at the forefront. I love being around and working with people as well so I guess that’s perhaps one reason why running a farm didn’t appeal too much as it can be a bit isolating.”
He grew up on his parents’ sheep and beef farm in Wairarapa. The Opaki primary school alumnus says his childhood was one of a typical Kiwi farm kid, full of eeling, riding motorbikes and even milking the house cow.
When Roger Douglas’ 1980s reforms happened Richard says his parents, like so many other families, went through some really tough times.
“The late 80s was a tough period for many farming families in our community and while my parents didn’t tell me not to go farming, they did encourage me to go to university. Because I had done reasonably well academically a friend’s mother said I should try law.”
It was at Canterbury University, where he studied for arts and commerce degrees after deciding he wasn’t really cut out to be a lawyer that he discovered his love and aptitude for business that eventually led him to Miraka.
“While I was there I ran the university social rugby competition which had about 400 players. It was one of the largest competitions run outside of NZRU.
“Overseeing something that people got value out of was very satisfying. That’s where I sort of thought about wanting to have a chief executive type position.”
After university he landed a spot on a graduate programme with Benchmark building suppliers, now called Bunnings, which was the start of a fairly lengthy CV that includes everything from DB Breweries, Coca Cola and sheep start-ups to transport companies.
“I remember one particular person told me that I’d had too many jobs and it would look bad.
“From my perspective I was focused on picking up different skill sets; managing people, negotiating large contracts, etc. It was all about learning different skills so that when I landed the Miraka role I had a good understanding of the core competencies needed for that role.”
He has been part of the Miraka team since it was little more than an idea and a bare paddock.
Chairman Kingi Smiler, one of the driving forces behind Miraka, was speaking to a friend of Richard about potential people to get on board to help get the project moving.
“It was still early days in the project so there was no guarantee that it was even going to go ahead.
“Obviously, it did and it has done really well.
“I began as the acting chief executive then applied for the full time role. Kingi and the board supported me and the rest is history.”
Miraka, established in 2011, is a dairy processor with strong values founded on the cultural beliefs of its Maori owners. It is unique in the dairy industry through its use of sustainable and renewable geothermal energy, a world-first for the whole milk powder processing industry.
It collects milk from 100 local farms within an 85km radius of the factory, which gives it a farm-fresh advantage and results in superior quality products.
Miraka has the power and capacity to process more than 250,000,000 litres of milk into powders and UHT products every year. The range of products has a global reach and exports go to more than 23 countries.
January 2020 will see Wyeth tick over 10 years with Miraka and it’s been a decade of highs and big learning curves from the challenges of getting the idea off the ground to securing the company’s spot in the market against much bigger competitors.
“Miraka is my top career highlight to date.
“It’s my first chief executive role and I was 35 at the time so relatively young.
“To then get the business up and running, on time and under budget, was a huge relief and going on to be profitable and grow the business has been immensely satisfying.
“One of the things I reflect on a lot is just how amazing it is what can be achieved when you get good people working in a team.
“It still amazes me what we’ve been able to do as a start-up. It takes a tremendous amount of courage and determination from everyone involved.”
When it comes to his personal measure of success Wyeth, ever the organiser has long-term and short-term measures.
In the long term it’s to ensure the company is always in a position to grow.
Short term it’s to make decisions that pay for him.
“I’ve always seen it as an honour to have a job. It might be a funny way of thinking but if someone wants to pay you to do a job, I’m always thankful for the opportunity.”
When he isn’t jumping from meeting to meeting or participating in the volleyball tournament he can most likely be found in the great outdoors with his family.
“I like skiing through the winter and I try to do three half marathons a year. Living in Taupo is fantastic as there’s so many places to get out and about.
“That’s probably one of the things about being chief executive that I don’t like that much, being inside all day.
“I probably don’t wear a suit as often as I should either, on that note, but it’s Taupo, the dress code is a bit more relaxed.”
Being an organisational and goal-minded person it’s no surprise his top tip for creating a good work-life balance is a good, old-fashioned schedule to block out family holidays and events.
When asked what’s next he says “We’ve been very focused on delivering our strategy from day one, build a strong foundation from the commodity business and then create value as quickly as we can so we are putting a lot of time and energy into growing our consumer business to drive up the profitability of the business.
“Miraka has a great story to tell and the best place to tell that is through our consumer products.”
On a personal level, though he knows nothing is forever, as long as he enjoys getting out of bed on a Monday morning to go to work and there’s enough of a challenge he’ll continue to drive Miraka from strength to strength.
“And if the board is happy of course.
“I get bored easily but I have a plan in my head of exactly what I want the company to achieve over the next few years. We have plenty of gears to go through before we hit full speed.”
