KEY POINTS:
Once a year the new face of the Primary Producers' Co-operative (PPCS), Keith Cooper, likes to escape the rough-and-tumble of the meat industry and head to the North Island for a serious bout of trout fishing.
A desire for a change of scene is understandable, given the pressures the 44-year-old Cantabrian has inherited as boss of New Zealand's largest meat exporter.
Not only are the nation's sheep farmers baying for an industry revolution to improve their meagre returns, but the high New Zealand dollar has also made trading conditions so difficult for the $2 billion co-operative that it is expected to breach its banking covenants when its financial year ends on August 31.
But relaxation is not the aim of Cooper's annual congregation with friends and family at his bach at Kinloch, Taupo. Instead of being a contemplative riverside idyll, it's an endeavour full of the cut-and-thrust of competition.
"I guess I enjoy the competitive element," says Cooper from his office in Dunedin. "There's only one outcome and that's to win."
It's an ethic he carries with him in other pursuits such as tennis and boating, which is ironic, given that he has spearheaded some major meat industry moves that some would call anything but competitive since he took up the helm in February.
During his brief reign he has ditched PPCS's North American marketing arm in favour of banding together with competitors, and also announced a joint review of operations with South Island rival Alliance, which is widely tipped to include the possibility of a merger.
Although still young, Cooper is no newcomer to the industry, having risen to the top of PPCS after almost 20 years with the company and 27 in the industry.
Cooper describes his entry into the meat sector at the age of 17 as a natural step for a lad who spent so much time on his relatives' farms. And while it's farmer frustration that prompted Cooper's radical marketing overhaul, his early days are what keep him plugged into their needs.
"I have huge empathy for farmers and farming," he says.
Others in the industry say Cooper was destined for the top from the beginning, but he is more circumspect, describing his career path as the kind of progression through the ranks typical of the meat industry. "But I wouldn't say I wasn't ambitious."
Although he's not mad on the corporate life, Cooper says it is satisfying in the good times and the bad.
"There's nothing better than getting out of the suit and down to meet the farmer suppliers," he says.
"That's the part of the job that makes it all worthwhile.
"It's nice to decorporatise - and it's fulfilling meeting a diverse range of people out in the real world."
It's fortunate that Cooper also counts boating among his hobbies, because he has had to navigate some rough waters in his first few months at the helm of PPCS.
Since he took over, the kiwi dollar has risen 9 per cent against the greenback - tough conditions for any exporter.
Then there was the spat that broke out between British and New Zealand sheep farmers when overlapping seasons produced an oversupply of lamb that further inflamed tensions in an industry suffering the burden of poor returns.
But if Cooper is feeling fazed, you would not know it. Perhaps that's because he has seen a lot in a career going back to 1980 to know that change is a constant in the killing game.
"I am focused on making a change and doing things differently to improve the status quo."
But he isn't about to name names or lay blame for decisions that might have spawned the difficulties the industry - and PPCS - now face.
Although the company's purchase of Richmond in 2004 has been described as too expensive, Cooper is a staunch defender of the bitter seven-year battle that cost PPCS more than $140 million plus several million dollars in legal bills.
Indeed, he is prone to turning criticisms into assets, suggesting the price was value for money given that it bought eight plants, when that amount of money would build only two today.
He goes so far as to suggest the purchase could be seen very differently given current market talk that further industry consolidation lies just around the corner. "You could argue we were slightly ahead of our time."
Co-operation is the name of the meat game at the moment, going by Cooper's decision to ditch PPCS's separate North American marketing arm in favour of a joint venture with rivals Alliance and Anzco plus some Australian competitors.
"We've now formed a view that a more cohesive, consolidated approach is better for the marketplace."
If the new approach nets improved returns, Cooper says it might also be the way ahead for marketing in Europe and even China.
Back home, there are no explicit plans for a merger with Alliance, but Cooper says pressures such as increased competition for land use from dairy mean more rationalisation has to occur.
But he rules out an NZX listing to raise capital, stressing the importance that farmers retain ownership of PPCS. "Under the co-operative philosophy I don't see listing - or sharing the business with investors - as particularly appropriate. It's not on our radar."
Despite the environment of change, Cooper is adamant PPCS will still exist this time next year.
"Yes, there are profitability issues, but they are profitability issues within the industry."
PPCS still has a substantial balance sheet and market share. "We are fundamentally a sound, operating business."
Although PPCS has taken a lot of flak over the bond issue and the admission that it would breach one of its banking covenants by its August 31 year-end, Cooper prefers to call the situation a challenge rather than a burden. He says his leadership style will be different from that of previous PPCS boss Stewart Barnett, whose modus operandi was forged amid "a very tough period of consolidation within the industry".
His leadership will involve "a more open transparent model ".
But that does not mean softening up, in the face of "the international marketplace and managing exchange rate risk and dealing with some big global supermarket chains".
He doesn't expect to solve all of farmers' problems without their help.
As a keen tennis player, he has put the ball squarely back in their own court.
To cut costs and maximise value from the marketplace, PPCS is "very reliant on supplier behaviour" and farmers need to make a choice about what kind of marketing-processing model they want.
Role: PPCS chief executive.
Age: 44.
Born: Christchurch.
School: Hillmorton High, Christchurch.
Tertiary education: Advanced management programme at Mt Eliza Centre for Executive Education, University of Melbourne.
Employment: Has worked for PPCS; PPCS Brooks; Windward Skins (PPCS subsidiary); Copax Group (PPCS subsidiary) and Producer Meats.
Family: Wife Julie and children Tom and Sarah.
Interests: Boating, trout fishing, tennis.
