Goodman Fielder is an Australian manufacturer, marketer and distributor of bread, smallgoods, dairy products, margarine, oil, dressings and various food ingredients. Its main operations are in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and New Caledonia, with over 40 manufacturing sites. The company employs over 5,000 people, and has more than 120 brands.
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History
Goodman Group was founded as A.S. Paterson & Co. ltd in Dunedin in 1886 as a general importing firm by Scottish-born businessman and philanthropist Alexander Stronach Paterson. It was listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in 1949 and would come to focus mainly on the grocery business. The firm was renamed as Goodman Group in 1979 after Paterson's grandson Alex was ousted as chairman in 1976 by "dissatisfied baking interests".
Goodman Fielder was founded in 1986 after the merger of Allied Mills Ltd and Goodman Group Ltd. Since the merger in 1986, the company has purchased a further 13 companies. The company was taken over by Burns Philp in 2003.
Goodman Fielder was re-listed on the share market at the end of 2005 with Burns Philp retaining a 20% share (subsequently sold in 2007). As part of the IPO, New Zealand Dairy Foods brands Meadowfresh, Tararua, Kiwi, Huttons, Anchor Cheese (under licence), Top Hat and Puhoi cheese became part of Goodman Fielder.
The Uncle Tobys and Bluebird snack food businesses of the "original" Goodman Fielder were not included in the float, the former being sold to Nestlé and the latter to PepsiCo.
Chris Delaney, the former Asia Pacific President of Campbell Soup Company, was Goodman Fielder's CEO from 4 July 2011. He resigned following a takeover of the company by Wilmar International and First Pacific joint-venture in March 2015 for $1.3 billion Australian dollars.
Goodman Fielder's CEO was Scott Weitemeyer, until the takeover by Wilmar International.
In 2019, Wilmar International acquired First Pacific's 50% share in the company.
Brands
The company's brands include:
Brasserie Bread [1]
Cornwell's
Country Life Bakery
Cow and Gate
Crisco
Ernest Adams
Edmonds
ETA
Freya's Continental Style Bread
Gold'n Canola
Helga's Continental Bakehouse
Irvines
La Famiglia
Logicol Archived 20 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine
Meadow Fresh
MeadowLea
Mighty Soft
Molenberg Archived 23 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Mother's Choice
Nature's Fresh
Noisette [2]
Olivani
Olive Grove
Paradise
Pampas
Praise
Puhoi Valley
Quality Bakers – a New Zealand brand of bread products, it is a subsidiary of Goodman Fielder and has bakeries throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Internationally
The company exports many of its products to over 30 countries. Goodman Fielder has four divisions, home ingredients, baking, dairy and commercial fats & oils.