DairyNZ acknowledges Craig Norgate's industry contribution

DairyNZ acknowledges Craig Norgate's industry contribution

Wednesday 8 July, 2015

DairyNZ chairman John Luxton and chief executive Tim Mackle have today expressed their sadness and shock at the death of Craig Norgate, acknowledging the important part he played in setting the direction of the industry body in its early years.

"Craig joined the Dexcel board in 2006, one of the bodies that was merged with Dairy Insight to form DairyNZ in 2007. He became a founding board member of DairyNZ. He was very influential in our direction in the early years. He was, of course, better known for being the driving force behind New Zealand's biggest ever co-operative merger - to form Fonterra," says John.

Tim says he had the personal privilege of working closely with Craig for two years as his assistant during the start-up of Fonterra and learnt a great deal from him. "He was very generous with his time and was always keen to mentor and see people realise their potential.

"Craig taught me many things through the way he worked. The most critical one was the ability to get things done - vision is essential and he had that in spades, but the ability to execute the strategy is what it all comes down to," he says.

"His brain was like a super-computer; you brought him a spreadsheet and he could spot any anomalies or key numbers in a matter of seconds. He was also a character and very much a Kiwi bloke who loved his family, friends, rugby and Taranaki - in that order.

"We would like to acknowledge all he has done for our industry in delivering what is now our largest co-operative and the largest company in New Zealand and of course, what he has done for DairyNZ. We send to his wife Jane and his children our deepest sympathy at this very sad time," says Tim.

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