The Country 25/11/25: Richard Wyeth talks to Jamie Mackay

The new chief executive of Synlait, and former chief executive of Miraka and Westland Milk, joins us after fronting his first AGM of the troubled dairy processor in Christchurch last Friday.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's ironic, isn't it that on a day when Fonterra

(00:02):
drops the milk price to nine dollars fifty we were
scheduled to chat to Richard Wyth, who fronted his first
annual meeting in his capacity as chief executive, the new
chief executive of Sinlay, and he did that last Friday.
Of course, Richard's got a very good background in the
dairy industry, former chief executive at meraka, a former chief

(00:23):
executive at Westland Milk. First question for you, Richard, is
the Sinlay payout pegged to Fonterra's as Westlands is.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, good, Jamie, Yes, it is largely.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
I mean we pay the base milk price and then
we've got lead with pride and centives, and we've also
provided a few extra incentives as well to retain.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
That you would have recalled.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
We had a fair run on cease notices last year,
so we had to encourage the farmers to stay.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
So yeah, we topped that up a little bit as well.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
So basically you're paying more than Fonterra and Westland milk
that you were previously running. I think was the Fonterra
price price plus ten cents? Am I right in saying.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Mate, Yeah, that's right, Yep, that's right. So yeah, look
it's good. The farmers have done well. I mean, obviously
they've taken a bit of a haircut this morning based
on a fifty cent drop in the base milk price,
but overall, historically start at very high prices.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Hound's your first six months and the job gone because
you've kind of jumped out of the frying pan and
into the fire.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Look, we got Westland to a pretty stable point and
then came into this business. We certainly walked into a
few manufacturing challenges. So it's a bit like a scree
slope down in the south on and where you sort
of take a few steps forward and then slide back
a bit. But we're getting a bit of momentum now,
so I feel like we're certainly through the worst of
it and trying to rebuild.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
So, just to put some context around this, Fonterra's obviously
the biggest dairy company by a country mile in this
country's eighty percent odd open countries are clear. Second, where
does Sinlay come in compared to Westland?

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, we'll be very similar to We're in about seventy
plus a mine million solids, so it's about four percent
of the total milk solids in New Zealand. I think
the open country a clear second now after they've acquaed
Materia Valley and Meniaca. So quite a few changes in
the industry over the last six months.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
You've divested yourself completely of any North Island interests. You're
concentrating on your knitting at the Dune Sandal plant.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
Look, I think it's been a bit of a cloud
for a few years hanging over so for us look
at an outstanding asset. So a good acquisition for Abbott,
but for us it allows us just to get back
to the South Island and refocus.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Has there still been a bit of a run on
the bank in terms of your suppliers wanting to go
to other people or have you steamed the bleeding?

Speaker 2 (02:41):
There?

Speaker 3 (02:42):
No here becly. Look, the milk supply teen did a
fantastic job. We lost a few farmers, we gained as
many so net net we had.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
We didn't lose any milk at all. So overall we're
in good shape from.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
A milk supply perspective in terms of yeah, we don't
need a lot more of any.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Looking forward for the dairy industry for the remainder of
this season, which we'll really only just got into and beyond.
I mean nine dollars fifty is cream's obviously been taken
off a ten dollar payment that we got last year.
But at that level, farmers should still be profitable.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yeah, absolutely, I mean I know that, you know, whether
it's seven dollars or slightly more than that, in terms
of costs on farm, it's it's still a good profit number.
And I think I've just come back from China from Cie,
and you know, the ten dollar payout was interesting for
me because China still wasn't firing at that point and
we've got it's a real oversupply issue, was what's driving
the milk price down to nine fifty. But look at

(03:36):
the end of the day, it's still a fantastic milk price.
I think you've you've got to share in a dairy farm, Jamie,
so you'll still be happy.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Well, I don't know. I don't seem to make much
out of mine, but I mean that's that's the problem.
When you're a Queen Street farmer. You're not hands on you.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
See, No, that's right, but overrought it if we've seen
two ten dollars payouts and you know, back to back
it would have been pretty incredible.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
But nine to fifty is still pretty solid.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, historically it's very good. Indeed, Richard Wire, thanks for
your time.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Thanksjmy