PM Jacinda Ardern was asked how she felt about the derogatory comments businessman Simon Henry made about Nadia Lim.
Video / NZ Herald
Controversial businessman Simon Henry has got himself into hot water again with fresh comments about My Food Bag co-founder Nadia Lim, whom he called “a bit of Eurasian fluff” this year.
My Food Bag co-founders complained to Henry’s company DGL about the new comments, during a tell-all interview at his home with the Herald on Sunday, and he retracted them.
In a May interview published by NBR, Henry - chief executive and founder of DGL - described Lim, a degree-qualified dietitian who won cooking competition MasterChef New Zealand, as a “TV celebrity showing off her sensuality”, when commenting about the company’s disappointing entry into the public market.
He said: “When you’ve got Nadia Lim, when you’ve got a little bit of Eurasian fluff in the middle of your prospectus with a blouse unbuttoned showing some cleavage, and that’s what it takes to sell your scrip, then you know you’re in trouble.”
My Food Bag co-founder and brand ambassador Nadia Lim as featured in the company's IPO product disclosure statement. Photo / My Food Bag
The comments were prompted by a photograph of Lim barbecuing a chicken while wearing jeans and a low-cut top. The image ran in a prospectus for My Food Bag, the meal kit delivery business Lim co-founded in 2013. Henry’s comments prompted days of indignation.
In his first interview since his outburst, Henry told the Herald on Sunday he thought it was “completely fascinating that a country could stop and have a hissy fit” about the original comments.
He said he regretted using race and gender in his earlier comments.
“I got my words wrong and I’ve apologised for that reason. I wish I had drawn attention to the matter without mentioning race or gender. I wanted to make a point; I am not going to bother with it again. Fast-talking Aucklanders can do what they like to New Zealand investors, I had a go at it but I am out.”
During the interview he made comments similar to the first but did not use race. The Herald on Sunday has chosen not to publish them. (Read the full interview here.)
Deborah Pead, who represents the My Food Bag co-founders, Nadia Lim, Cecilia Robinson and Theresa Gattung, described Henry’s new comments as “harmful and derogatory”, and demanded that he retract them.
A spokeswoman for Cannings Strategic Communications, which represents DGL, wrote: “Simon Henry retracts his quotes. He would also like to make it clear once again he has apologised in full for his comments made with respect to Nadia earlier this year.
“During your interview with him, he re-stated and expanded on this apology. His apology was absolutely sincere and without reservation and he is sorry for any personal hurt caused to Nadia.”
Henry also said he regretted that his comments about Lim hurt his staff, clients and the board.
“Regret is a fair word to use. The board was disappointed and I apologised to them for causing hurt, it was a distraction to us running the company. I apologise to all the good women that work at DGL, I apologised to all my staff, I didn’t want to cause them any distress. My female staff got hammered and abused.”
The My Food Bag founders sold a 70 per cent stake in the company to private equity firm Waterman Capital in 2016. Waterman controlled the IPO when the company entered the public market in March 2021. It was hailed at the time as the biggest IPO to hit the NZX in seven years.
Gattung and Robinson had resigned as directors two months prior while Lim had not been on the board since 2016 but remains an ambassador. Robinson returned as a director in August this year.
My Food Bag sold shares to new investors at $1.85 each, raising $342 million. But its share price has been on a downward trend since and as of Thursday was 45 cents.
In the latest fiscal year, the company posted a $20 million net profit after tax and revenue of $194m.
My Food Bag’s net profit for the six months ended September 30 fell 37 per cent and revenue dropped 4 per cent in its weakest half-year result since 2020.
The late Brian Gaynor noted in a column after the NZX listing that existing shareholders did extremely well as they realised $282.5m from the IPO. Waterman Capital received $190.6m, Robinson and husband James Robinson $30.3m, Gattung $27.7m and Lim and husband Carlos Bagrie $15.4m.
He said that in his opinion, “The IPO was predominantly an exit vehicle for existing shareholders, rather than an equity raising for MFB, as only $54.8m, or 16.2 per cent of the total amount raised went to the company.”
