Happy with his new joint
Former fullback Adrian Cashmore was no stranger to carving up opposition sides as a professional rugby player. Nowadays, he’s carving out a new career in the meat processing industry.
In a hasty move at the start of last year, Cashmore and his business partners took over Fishers Foods, a 95-year-old meat processing company in Dunedin.
“I was working with a business broker and he rang me one day saying he’d just talked to a couple of guys starting a small meat processing business looking for a capital injection,” Cashmore said. “We threw it out there asking if they would sell and, next thing you know, we’re in Dunedin. It all happened pretty much overnight. I had to go home and tell my wife that we could potentially end up moving to Dunedin, but there I was, knowing it was going to happen.”
Eighteen months later, things are ticking along nicely for Cashmore. As a player, he had many fleeting visits to the Scarfie city but, with the exception of the infamous Gardens tavern, never saw much beyond the footy pitch.
“Dunedin is good. Business is going well, the family’s settled in and we’re loving it. It was pretty tough at first because it was so quick but the people in Dunedin and down south have been fantastic.
“We’ve lived in Europe and Japan, which gets really cold. The South Island’s pretty cool. There’s adventure on your doorstep, so we try to get out there skiing and all that.”
During his short stint for the All Blacks in the mid-1990s — he appeared in two tests at a time when Christian Cullen was at his peak — and 47 games for the Blues, Cashmore’s rugby career was unhindered until a back injury put him through the mincer when playing for Welsh club Ospreys in 2006.
After retiring from professional rugby, he dabbled in various careers, firstly real estate and then a stint in the supermarket game, but admits the path leading to his present occupation was a winding one.
“Once rugby finished, it’s a whole change in mindset. I enjoyed my time playing footy but that was the easy part. For me, I was lucky in the sense I went straight into my old man’s real estate business.”
However, Cashmore discovered after a few years that real estate wasn’t for him.
“I was going to work and just wasn’t enjoying it. When you’re playing rugby and getting paid for it, you’re never going to be able to emulate that. You’re getting good money, keeping fit, travelling the world, all your gear is free. No other job is going to compete with that.”
Cashmore eventually discovered after undertaking a Foodstuffs programme he really wanted to get into something involving food. Fishers provided that chance.
Despite being the boss, the once talented goal-kicker says he isn’t afraid of kicking about with the meaty aspect of the production line.
“We are definitely hands-on, you’ve got to be. We’ve got great staff and without them, we wouldn’t survive. They want to see and know that you are putting in the same amount of effort as them. Once you’re in the real world, you’ve actually got to work but I think if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, then don’t do it. It’s quite simple.”