Directors result a vote of confidence in Silver Fern Farms

27 January 2011

Incumbent Chairman Eoin Garden has been re-elected to the Board of Silver Fern Farms. At the company’s Annual Meeting held today in Waipukurau Silver Fern Farms announced the outcome of an election for two Farmer-Elected Directors to the company’s Board. Mr Garden secured his position by gaining 33% of the votes cast off the back of a voter turnout of 24%.

The other incumbent standing for re-election, Joe Ferraby (with 22% of the votes cast), will be stepping down from the Board, having been successfully challenged by David Shaw (with 25% of the votes cast). Oliver Saxton, the fourth candidate, gained 21% of the votes cast. Mr Garden commented that “the result is very gratifying” and that he is “delighted to have the continued support of the majority of shareholders that voted in the election”.

“It validates the vision we have put in place for the company to pursue a truly market focused strategy and indicates shareholder support for the leadership role we are adopting within the industry” said Mr Garden. Mr Garden has actively advocated for the need for change to create a sustainable and profitable future for the New Zealand red meat industry. Championing industry consolidation, Mr Garden has been forthcoming in his view that aggregation will be a necessary part of that transformation to achieve the scale required to compete with other land uses.

Under Mr Garden’s chairmanship in recent years Silver Fern Farms has successfully removed the debt burden, achieved strong shareholder equity and committed to growth and investment strategies to improve farmer returns. Furthermore the company has implemented an aggressive marketing and branding strategy focused on delivering innovative products to premium niche markets globally.

Mr Garden also campaigned on the need to retain cooperative ownership to protect the sector against foreign ownership and dominance. “The Board’s goals are to achieve better returns, greater opportunities, and long term security for our farming businesses in this industry” said Mr Garden. “It is immensely satisfying that the majority of our shareholders share the same vision for their cooperative”.

ENDS

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