In its annual report, released this week, the co-operative said farmers were continuing to face substantial regulatory changes and the speed and scale of the reform had been overwhelming.
The sector was experiencing the conversion of productive sheep and beef land into carbon farms due to the soaring carbon price; New Zealand was the only country in the world not to have a limit on fossil fuel emitters planting trees to offset their emissions and it was critical the Emissions Trading Scheme was fixed to address that as a matter of urgency, it said.
Alliance Group supported He Waka Eke Noa Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership’s recommended option for emissions pricing which was designed by 11 primary sector groups and it did not support the Government’s recently proposed changes and it would be making a submission on those.
‘‘From a market perspective, we must demonstrate to our global customers that we’re committed to producing environmentally sustainable products and that our story is backed by science and modern farm management practices,’’ it said.
Alliance Group’s $117.2 million profit before distribution and tax was an 186% increase on the previous year and was based on record turnover of $2.2 billion.
The co-operative would make an $11.3 million profit distribution to its farmer share holders and, in addition, a $10 million bonus share issue of one share per qualifying stock
In a statement, chief executive David Surveyor, who recently announced his resignation after nearly eight years in the role, said the financial performance was the result of hard work and dedication from employees and support from loyal farmer shareholders.
The company continued to experience significant challenges around global logistics with poor vessel adherence to shipping schedules and high freight costs.
“As a co-operative, we adopted an agile approach, and where necessary, rebalanced our product mix, forms and channels so we could continue to meet the needs of our customers.”
Significant investment in improving the operational performance also contributed positively to the record profit result. Safety had been a major focus for him and the company was pleased to achieve a record safety performance, Mr Surveyor said.
Three years ago, Alliance Group set a goal of ending the use of coal at its plants within 10 years. It was continuing to examine other fuel options across its network and rolling out a range of energy-saving projects, which would cut its carbon footprint significantly.
Chairman Murray Taggart said the co-operative faced significant volatility including from the ongoing impact of Covid-19, global supply chain disruption, labour constraints and inflationary pressures. However, its strategy and investment programme meant it was able to successfully navigate the challenges.
Earlier this week, Alliance Group confirmed it was recruiting up to 400 seasonal staff from across the country as well as from overseas for its plants in Lorneville and Mataura in Southland.
In the annual report, the company said labour shortage had been a significant issue for the meat processing sector for some time.
The Government’s announcement in August of a sector agreement with the industry, which included access to migrant workers for entry level red meat processing roles, with a cap on the number of visas, should go some way to address the shortage but it was not enough to solve the challenge altogether.
Alliance Group remained committed to training and employing New Zealanders first and would continue to work closely with the Ministry of Social Development and regional agencies to recruit from local communities.
The co-operative’s annual meeting will be held in Timaru on December 15.
