Talley's Group

Last updated

Talley's Group Limited
Company typePrivate company
IndustryFisheries, meatworks
PredecessorTalley's Fisheries Ltd [1]
Founded1936
FounderIvan Peter Talijancich [1]
Headquarters
Motueka
,
New Zealand
Number of locations
31 [2]  (2016)
Subsidiaries AFFCO Holdings, Hall's Group, Open Country Dairy
Website Talley's Website

Talley's Group Limited is a privately owned, New Zealand–based agribusiness company that provides seafood, vegetable and dairy products. [1] Talley's was established in 1936 in Motueka by Ivan Peter Talijancich (later known as Ivan Talley) as a manufacturer of seafood, and has since grown into one of the largest agribusiness companies in New Zealand. [3] [4]

Contents

The company's Port Motueka site incorporates the Group Head Office, the Seafood Division and the Dairy Division. The Vegetable Division began operations in 1978 at Motueka, but has since been relocated to Blenheim and Ashburton. [5] The meat division, AFFCO Holdings, has been majority-owned by Talley's since the early 2000s. [3]

In 2016 Talley's diversified into coal mining in a joint purchase with Bathurst Resources of former Solid Energy mines at Stockton, Rotowaro and Maramarua. [6]

History

The rusting hull of the Janie Seddon Janie Seddon 24584719531 03.jpg
The rusting hull of the Janie Seddon

The company's first fishing vessel was the Janie Seddon. Built in the United Kingdom in 1903, the Janie Seddon was one of two submarine minelaying vessels brought out from England to New Zealand that same year. The Janie Seddon was based in Wellington, with its twin, the Lady Roberts, based in Auckland. The Janie Seddon was used in port during World Wars I and II, and was also the examination vessel during World War II.

In 1936 the Janie Seddon was purchased by Talley's Fisheries, and was their first vessel. Retired in 1955, she is now a rusting hulk on the Motueka foreshore, near the headquarters of Talley's. [7] [8] [9]

Industrial relations

Talley's has courted controversy for its approach to industrial relations, [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] and has lobbied for curbs on trade unions and the watering down of occupational safety legislation. [15]

In 2015 Talley's locked out union members. The workers were allowed back to work five months later in 2016 when the lock-out was ruled illegal. Talley's was ordered to pay $144,000 to the Meat Workers Union for repeated breaches of union access rights. [16] [17] [18]

Health and safety

Talley's has been found guilty on many occasions over health and safety breaches, including an incident where a fisherman was decapitated. [19] [20] [21] [22]

Between 2018 and July 2021, Talley's Group faced formal enforcement actions 43 times from WorkSafe New Zealand, including 22 health and safety improvement notices and a recommendation for prosecution. [23] In December 2020, was fined $334,000 when they pleaded guilty over two different breaches where employees injured their hands. [24]

In July 2021, Talley's threatened an injunction to prevent One News running a story on leaked photos showing potential health and safety breaches. [25] Talley's denied these claims, saying the photos were taken out of context. [25] Following further allegations, Talley's initiated an independent review of their health and safety policies and WorkSafe New Zealand announced they were taking a closer look at their operations. [23] [26]

In October 2021, it was revealed that a female Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) fisheries observer was repeatedly sexually harassed during a ten-week fishing trip. [27] This led to an industry-wide review of health and safety of the inspectors by MPI, and another private review undertaken by Talley's themselves.

In December 2021, Talley's Group filed a defamation suit against TVNZ for their reporting of the above health and safety issues, saying that TVNZ had made a "series of false and defamatory broadcasts." [28] [29]

In June 2023, Talley's was fined $502,500 for the death of a worker in Affco's freezing works that was described by the presiding judge as a 'wholly avoidable event'. [30]

Environmental impact

A subsidiary of Talley's, Amaltal Fishing Co., was convicted and fined for trawling in Hikurangi Marine Reserve in March 2019. [31] Amaltal Fishing Co. denied the charge, and Talley's denied responsibility. [32] [33]

In January 2021, RNZ reported that Talley's was one of company's in New Zealand that regularly breached their trade waste consents. [34] [35] In response, Talley's said that they were making substantial improvements towards "full compliance, all of the time" at their Motueka plant. [36]

In June 2021, Talley's replaced their polystyrene packaging with cardboard packaging, saving an estimated 180,000 polystyrene containers from landfill each year. [37]

Also in June 2021 Talley's was criticised by Greenpeace and the Australian Marine Conservation Society for their use of bottom trawlers in their fishing business, citing the negative environmental impact. [38] Talley's said that they were responsive to these concerns, and worked with government bodies to only trawl areas with healthy fishy stocks. [38]

Another case found Amaltal breached the conditions of its fishing permit in 2018, when Amaltal Apollo bottom-trawled on Lord Howe Rise, an area protected by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation. [39]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waitangi Tribunal</span> Permanent commission of inquiry in New Zealand

The Waitangi Tribunal is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on claims brought by Māori relating to actions or omissions of the Crown, in the period largely since 1840, that breach the promises made in the Treaty of Waitangi. The Tribunal is not a court of law; therefore, the Tribunal's recommendations and findings are not binding on the Crown. They are sometimes not acted on, for instance in the foreshore and seabed dispute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Television in New Zealand</span>

Television in New Zealand was introduced in 1960 as a state-run service. The broadcasting sector was deregulated in 1989, when the Government allowed competition to the state-owned Television New Zealand (TVNZ). There are currently three forms of broadcast television: a terrestrial (DVB-T) service provided by Freeview; as well as satellite (DVB-S) and internet streaming (IPTV) services provided nationwide by both Freeview and Sky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TVNZ</span> New Zealand state-owned television network

Television New Zealand, more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific region. All of its currently-operating channels are free-to-air and commercially funded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio New Zealand</span> Public-service radio broadcast network

Radio New Zealand, commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and current-affairs network, RNZ National, and a classical-music and jazz network, RNZ Concert, with full government funding from NZ On Air. Since 2014, the organisation's focus has been to transform RNZ from a radio broadcaster to a multimedia outlet, increasing its production of digital content in audio, video, and written forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motueka</span> Town in Tasman District, New Zealand

Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of 8,300 as of June 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wairoa</span> Town in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Wairoa is the largest town in the Wairoa District and the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Māhia Peninsula. It is 118 kilometres (73 mi) northeast of Napier, and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Gisborne, on State Highway 2. It is the nearest town to the Te Urewera protected area and former national park, which is accessible from Wairoa via State Highway 38. It is one of three towns in New Zealand where Māori outnumber other ethnicities, with 62.29% of the population identifying as Māori.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Campbell (broadcaster)</span> New Zealand journalist and television personality (born 1964)

John James Campbell is a New Zealand journalist and radio and television personality. He is currently a presenter and reporter at TVNZ; before that, he presented Checkpoint, Radio New Zealand's drive time show, from 2016 to 2018. For ten years prior to that, he presented Campbell Live, a 7 p.m. current affairs programme on TV3. He was a rugby commentator for Sky Sports during the All Blacks' test against Samoa in early 2015 — a fixture he had vocally campaigned for while hosting Campbell Live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kordia</span> New Zealand state-owned enterprise

Kordia is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise. It provides a range of services, including connectivity, cloud and cyber security services, as well as managed IT, field services, broadcast and safety of life communications.

AFFCO Holdings Limited, commonly referred to as AFFCO or "Auckland Farmers Freezing Company", is New Zealand's fourth largest meat processor. AFFCO has been in operations since 1904. It has been wholly owned by Talley's Group since 2010 and it is currently one of the few remaining Talley's owned companies to employ unionised workers at their plants. AFFCO has twelve plants in New Zealand.

Kāinga Ora, officially Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, is a Crown agency that provides rental housing for New Zealanders in need. It has Crown entity status under the Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities Act 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Anne Genter</span> American-born New Zealand politician

Julie Anne Genter is an American-born New Zealand politician who is a member of the House of Representatives representing the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Genter was elected to each Parliament from 2011 to 2023 on the party lists, before being elected as the Member of Parliament for the Rongotai electorate in the 2023 election. She served as the Minister for Women, Associate Minister for Health and Associate Minister for Transport during the first term of the Sixth Labour Government. She holds dual citizenship of New Zealand and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiri Allan</span> New Zealand politician

Kiritapu Lyndsay Allan is a New Zealand lawyer and former politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) in the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, representing the Labour Party in the East Coast electorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Bush</span> New Zealand retired police officer

Michael Dennis Bush is a retired New Zealand police officer. He served as the New Zealand Commissioner of Police from April 2014 until April 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption</span> Volcanic eruption which killed 22 and injured 25 people

On 9 December 2019, Whakaari / White Island, an active stratovolcano island in New Zealand's northeastern Bay of Plenty region, explosively erupted. The island was a popular tourist destination, known for its volcanic activity, and 47 people were on the island at the time. Twenty-two people died, either in the explosion or from injuries sustained, including two whose bodies were never found and were later declared dead. A further 25 people suffered injuries, with the majority needing intensive care for severe burns. Continuing seismic and volcanic activity, together with heavy rainfall, low visibility and the presence of toxic gases, hampered recovery efforts over the week following the incident.

Claire Ann Deeks is a New Zealand anti-vaccine activist who has challenged the government's response to COVID-19. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the Advance NZ party in the 2020 general election, and set up the group Voices for Freedom (VFF), which distributed pamphlets that have been criticised by experts as containing COVID-19 misinformation about vaccines, lockdown and the wearing of masks. As a food blogger, Deeks promoted the paleo diet and "healthy" lunchboxes for children, and developed a petition to stop the rating system for foods used by the NZ and Australian governments. She is a former intellectual property lawyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hikurangi Marine Reserve</span> New Zealand marine reserve

Hikurangi Marine Reserve is a marine reserve off the coast of the Kaikōura District, in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. It is the largest and deepest marine reserve in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kahurangi Marine Reserve</span>

Kahurangi Marine Reserve is a marine reserve administered by the Department of Conservation, covering 8,419 hectares offshore of Kahurangi National Park in the Buller District of New Zealand's West Coast Region.

Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora is the primary publicly funded healthcare system of New Zealand. It was established by the New Zealand Government to replace the country's 20 district health boards (DHBs) on 1 July 2022. Health New Zealand is charged with working alongside the Public Health Agency to manage the provision of healthcare services in New Zealand.

Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media (ANZPM) was a proposed public media entity consisting of the New Zealand public broadcasters Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and TVNZ. After exploring the merger of the two media entities in February 2020, the New Zealand Cabinet formally decided to create the new media entity in February 2022. The Sixth Labour Government introduced legislation to create ANZPM on 23 June 2022, with plans for the organisation to be legally established on 1 March 2023. On 8 February 2023, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who succeeded Jacinda Ardern earlier in January 2023, announced that the proposed media entity and the merger of RNZ and TVNZ would be scrapped.

Sealord Group is a New Zealand seafood company. It is based in Nelson, and is half owned by 57 iwi through Moana New Zealand, and half owned by the Japanese company Nissui. It is New Zealand's largest seafood company by revenue.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Our Heritage " Talleys". Talleys.co.nz. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  2. "Our Locations " Talleys". Talleys.co.nz. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Talleys makes play for Affco – Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News". Otago Daily Times . 22 July 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  4. "Talley family wealth 'increased by $10m'". Stuff. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  5. "Our Heritage " Talleys". Talleys.co.nz. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  6. "Bathurst Resources and Talley's buy three Solid Energy mines". Stuff . 31 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  7. "Janie Seddon". maanz.wellington.net.nz. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  8. "The Janie Seddon Motueka Shipwreck". Ilan Wittenberg Photographer. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  9. "Old wreck's days may be numbered". Stuff . 20 November 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  10. "Meatworkers punished over union material". Radio New Zealand. 11 June 2015.
  11. Dita De Boni (19 June 2015). "Blaming staff won't end injuries". The New Zealand Herald .
  12. Fiona Rotherham (4 August 2015). "Affco workers vote to strike as meat company first to apply under new bargaining laws". National Business Review.
  13. Talleys Fisheries Ltd v Lewis HC Auckland CIV 2005-485-1750 [2007] NZHC 1845; (2007) 8 HRNZ 413; (2007) 4 NZELR 447 (14 June 2007) Archived 15 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Danya Levy, Shane Cowlishaw and Sophie Speer (27 February 2012). "Talley's at centre of strike wave". Nelson Mail.
  15. "Submission by Talley's Group Ltd to the Health & Safety Reform Bill". Parliament.nz. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  16. "Meatworker lock-out ends". Stuff . Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  17. "Union wins big victory over Talleys". Newstalk ZB . Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  18. "Talley's ordered to pay $144,000 penalties to Union". Scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  19. "Talley's pays reparations to decapitated crewman's family after safety failure". Stuff . 9 June 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  20. "Meat worker gets over $10k compensation". Radio New Zealand. 13 June 2015.
  21. Charles Anderson (29 April 2015). "Talley's to pay $80,000 for death of crewman". Stuff.
  22. Tova O'Brien (15 June 2015). "Talley's pays worker $6000 over unsafe workplace". 3 News.
  23. 1 2 "Talley's launches independent review in response to allegations in 1 NEWS story". TVNZ. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  24. "Talley's fined more than $300,000 for worker safety breaches". Stuff . 8 December 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  25. 1 2 "Exclusive: Whistleblower shares images of filthy conditions at Talley's factory". TVNZ. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  26. "Exclusive: Former Talley's employee feared he would die on the job". TVNZ. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  27. Mead, Thomas (24 October 2021). "Female fishing observer 'repeatedly sexually harassed' in nightmare Talley's voyage". 1 News. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  28. "Talley's Group sues TVNZ". Stuff . 10 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  29. "Talley's sues TVNZ over health and safety breach allegations". RNZ . 10 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  30. "Affco fined $500,000 over worker's 'wholly avoidable' death in freezer". RNZ . 23 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  31. "Fishing company fined $27,600 for fishing in a protected marine reserve". Ministry for Primary Industries . 9 March 2021.
  32. "Amaltal denies fishing in Hikurangi Marine Reserve". Radio New Zealand. RNZ News. 8 March 2020.
  33. Neal, Tracey (10 August 2020). "Talley's skipper fined for marine reserve fishing, company denies responsibility". Radio New Zealand. RNZ News.
  34. "Revealed: The companies dumping contaminants down the drain". RNZ . 25 January 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  35. "Companies dumping contaminants down the drain: Talleys, Ernest Adams and Yoplait identified". The New Zealand Herald . 25 January 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  36. "The companies who breached their trade waste consents respond". RNZ . 25 January 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  37. "Talley's switches from polysterene[sic] to cardboard for fish transport". Stuff . 28 June 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  38. 1 2 "'We're the bad guys': Conservationists want NZ deep sea trawlers gone from Australia". Stuff . 30 June 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  39. Bohny, Skara (10 March 2022). "Talley's subsidiary found guilty of bottom trawling in conservation area". Stuff . Retrieved 25 March 2022.