Goodman Fielder is an Australian

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

, marketer and

distributor A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design ...

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

, smallgoods,

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

, dressings and various food ingredients. Its main operations are in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, 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.

History

Goodman Group was founded as A.S. Paterson & Co. ltd in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

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 The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous passerine birds in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds lay an ...

snack food businesses of the "original" Goodman Fielder were not included in the float, the former being sold to

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

and the latter to

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

. Chris Delaney, the former Asia Pacific President of

Campbell Soup Company The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campbe ...

, was Goodman Fielder's CEO from 4 July 2011. He resigned following a takeover of the company by Wilmar International and

First Pacific First Pacific Company Limited () is a Hong Kong–based investment management and holding company with operations located in Asia. It involves telecommunications, consumer food products and infrastructure. Businesses Indonesia: * Indofood Suk ...

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: * Cornwell's * Country Life Bakery * Cow and Gate * Crisco * Ernest Adams – a New Zealand bakery brand and part of the Goodman Fielder group of companies, its products include cakes, desserts, loaves, biscuits, meringues, cakes, sponges, puddings and tarts. The company was originally called Adams Bruce Limited, with Ernest Alfred Adams in partnership with Christchurch baker Hugh Bruce. The company grew rapidly, with bakeries in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin by the time of Bruce's retirement in 1929. Following Bruce's retirement, the company was split, with Adams Bruce operating in the North Island and a new company, Ernest Adams Ltd., taking over the South Island arm of the business. Despite his official retirement, Bruce continued to work for the company as manager of the Christchurch factory until his death in 1939. In 2022 the Ernest Adams brand of baked goods was discontinued. * Edmonds * ETA * Freya's Continental Style Bread * Gold'n Canola * Helga's Continental Bakehouse * Irvines * La Famiglia
Logicol
* Meadow Fresh * MeadowLea * Mighty Soft
Molenberg
* Mother's Choice
Nature's Fresh
* Olivani * Olive Grove * Paradise
Pampas
* Praise * Puhoi Valley * Quality Bakers – a New Zealand brand of bread products, it is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of Goodman Fielder and has bakeries throughout Australia and New Zealand. * Tararua * Vogel's – a bread based on a recipe by Alfred Vogel * White Wings *

Yoplait Yoplait ( , ) is a French dessert company and the world's largest franchise brand of yogurt. It is fully owned by the French dairy cooperative Sodiaal since 2021. In North America, the Canadian subsidiary was taken over by Sodiaal in 2025. Th ...

(New Zealand only) Goodman Fielder operate in the dairy, baking and grocery segments of the food manufacturing market, and have a portfolio of retail and food service brands, including Meadow Fresh, Puhoi Valley, Bouton D'or, Tararua, Vogel's, Quality Bakers, Molenberg, Natures Fresh and Meadowlea.

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.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.goodmanfielder.com.au/ Food manufacturers of Australia Food and drink companies based in Sydney Manufacturing companies based in Sydney Australian companies established in 1986 Dairy products companies of Australia Food and drink companies established in 1986 Condiment companies of Australia Australian subsidiaries of foreign companies

History

Brands

Internationally

See also

References

External links