David Surveyor

mirror to a degree but it is a tricky virus, and we can never be complacent. We’re a healthcare business with 12,500 people to look out for – so it is our No 1 concern. I don’t see that changing.

What is great has been the economic resilience we’ve seen in both New Zealand and Australia, where both Governments’ superb healthcare response to the pandemic have kept the economies intact.

We expect the most significant business challenge to be the global supply chain issues caused by Covid-19 – container shortages, off-schedule vessels, delayed transit times, and port productivity.

We are putting significant effort into managing refrigeration space to keep our plants running efficiently and minimise the impact on our farmers.

How big a problem is Covid-19 for your business right now, and what impact do you think it will be having in a year’s time?

In addition to the logistical issues, our global markets – in particular, the food service sector – have been disrupted by Covid-19 restrictions.

We have seen markets open and close, we have had to manage our plants to keep people safe from the threat of Covid-19, divert product to other markets and change product forms for different channels. All of this demonstrates the ability of our people to respond under really difficult circumstances.

However, as vaccination rates increase and lockdowns are lifted, we are seeing a recovery with restaurants reopening.