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Sir Graeme Harrison and the Japan-Linked Beef Exporter He Built, ANZCO Foods

A former meat board manager turned a Japan-focused trading venture into one of New Zealand's largest beef and lamb exporters.

Who is Graeme Harrison?

Sir Graeme Harrison is the founder and long-time leader of ANZCO Foods, a New Zealand meat company that markets beef and lamb into more than 80 countries. The New Zealand Business Hall of Fame profile says he built the company from nothing into a business employing more than 3,000 people in New Zealand.

He was born on 13 November 1948 in Methven, a small town in the Canterbury foothills, and studied at the University of Canterbury, earning a BA in 1969 and an MA with honors in 1971, according to the Wikipedia biography.

From the Meat Producers Board to Japan

Harrison's early career was inside the industry's old marketing structure. From 1976 to 1979 he was London-based commercial manager of the New Zealand Meat Producers Board, and from 1980 to 1983 he was assistant general manager in Wellington. He then moved to Japan, where the company that became ANZCO was founded.

He became managing director of the Asian New Zealand Meat Company, trading as ANZCO Foods, in 1984. The company began with ownership through the Meat Producers Board on behalf of farmers. Japan was the early focus, and the company's joint ventures followed after Japan opened to beef imports in 1988.

Five Star Beef and the Itoham partnership

In 1989 ANZCO and Japan's Itoham Foods formed a 50-50 partnership to create Five Star Beef. Its feedlot at Wakanui, near Ashburton, is described as New Zealand's largest and exports mainly to Japan. The Business Hall of Fame also lists the country's largest cattle feedlot among ANZCO's assets.

A feedlot is a notable choice in a country famous for pasture-fed beef. Japanese buyers wanted consistent, grain-finished product, and New Zealand's grass systems did not always deliver it. Finishing cattle on feed gave ANZCO a way to meet that specification all year.

The 1995 buy-out and later ownership

In 1995 Harrison led a management buy-out of ANZCO from the Meat Producers Board, effective 17 August. The Wikipedia biography says the original NZ$350,000 investment returned over NZ$40 million to the original owners. In the same year Itoham took a 48.3% minority stake, with Nissui taking a smaller one.

Harrison served as chairperson from 2004. In 2015 he announced his retirement plans and reduced his holding from just over 20% to 14%. Late in 2017 Itoham received Overseas Investment Office approval to become sole owner, and Harrison retired after the March 2018 annual general meeting, 34 years after he first led the company.

The Key to Harrison's Success

The record points to a business built on one customer relationship and then widened carefully. Reading it as a set of decisions, rather than a personality, is the useful way in.

The model also carried a dependence on Japan that the sources treat as a strength but that left the company exposed to one region's rules and tastes.

  • Know the buyer: he lived and worked in Japan and built ANZCO around what Japanese customers wanted.
  • Share the risk with a major partner: the 1989 Five Star Beef venture was a 50-50 deal with Itoham Foods.
  • Invest in supply you control: ANZCO grew to own farms, processing plants, a feedlot, food manufacturing and retail outlets, per the Business Hall of Fame.
  • Buy out the owner at the right moment: the 1995 management buy-out turned a board-owned venture into an independent company.
  • Plan the exit: shareholding reduced in 2015, full Itoham ownership approved in late 2017, retirement in 2018.

Honors and public voice

Harrison received a New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal for services to international trade, was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2011, received an honorary Doctor of Commerce from Lincoln University in 2012 and was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2017. The New Zealand Herald report on his knighthood covers the 2011 honor.

The Business Hall of Fame also describes him as a public advocate for a positive future for New Zealand agribusiness, which is a fair summary of how he used his profile after the company was established.

Learn more on farm.FM

For stories about the people who move beef from paddock to plate, see the agribusiness pages at farm.FM. A related story is a farm.FM story on New Zealand beef exports.

Timeline

  1. 1948Born in Methven, New Zealand
  2. 1976Becomes London-based commercial manager of the NZ Meat Producers Board
  3. 1984Becomes managing director of ANZCO Foods
  4. 1989ANZCO and Itoham Foods form the Five Star Beef partnership
  5. 1995Leads a management buy-out; Itoham takes a 48.3% minority stake
  6. 2004Becomes chairperson of ANZCO
  7. 2011Appointed Knight Companion of the NZ Order of Merit
  8. 2017Inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame; Itoham approved to become sole owner
  9. 2018Retires after 34 years leading the company

Frequently asked questions

Who founded ANZCO Foods?

Sir Graeme Harrison founded ANZCO Foods, initially as the Asian New Zealand Meat Company. He became its managing director in 1984 and later chairperson, leading it for 34 years until 2018.

What is Five Star Beef?

Five Star Beef is a 1989 partnership between ANZCO and Itoham Foods. It runs a feedlot at Wakanui near Ashburton, described as New Zealand's largest, exporting mainly to Japan.

What honors has Graeme Harrison received?

He received a 1990 Commemoration Medal, became a Knight Companion of the NZ Order of Merit in 2011, an honorary Lincoln University doctorate in 2012, and entered the NZ Business Hall of Fame in 2017.

Who owns ANZCO Foods now?

Late in 2017 Itoham Foods received Overseas Investment Office approval to become sole owner by buying the remaining shares, according to the Wikipedia biography of Harrison.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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