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Talley's Group Limited
Company typePrivate company
IndustryFisheries, meatworks
PredecessorTalley's Fisheries Ltd[1]
Founded1936
FounderIvan Peter Talijancich[1]
Headquarters
Motueka
,
New Zealand
Number of locations
31[2] (2016)
SubsidiariesAFFCO Holdings, Hall's Group, Open Country Dairy
WebsiteTalley's Website

Talley's Group Limited is a privately owned, New Zealand–based agribusiness company that provides seafood, vegetable and dairy products.[1] Talley's was established in 1936 in Motueka by Ivan Peter Talijancich (later known as Ivan Talley) as a manufacturer of seafood, and has since grown into one of the largest agribusiness companies in New Zealand.[3][4]

The company's Port Motueka site incorporates the Group Head Office, the Seafood Division and the Dairy Division. The Vegetable Division began operations in 1978 at Motueka, but has since been relocated to Blenheim and Ashburton.[5] The meat division, AFFCO Holdings, has been majority-owned by Talley's since the early 2000s.[3]

In 2016 Talley's diversified into coal mining in a joint purchase with Bathurst Resources of former Solid Energy mines at Stockton, Rotowaro and Maramarua.[6]

History

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The rusting hull of the Janie Seddon

The company's first fishing vessel was the Janie Seddon. Built in the United Kingdom in 1903, the Janie Seddon was one of two submarine minelaying vessels brought out from England to New Zealand that same year. The Janie Seddon was based in Wellington, with its twin, the Lady Roberts, based in Auckland. The Janie Seddon was used in port during World Wars I and II, and was also the examination vessel during World War II.

In 1936 the Janie Seddon was purchased by Talley's Fisheries, and was their first vessel. Retired in 1955, she is now a rusting hulk on the Motueka foreshore, near the headquarters of Talley's.[7][8][9]

Industrial relations

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Talley's has courted controversy for its approach to industrial relations,[10][11][12][13][14] and has lobbied for curbs on trade unions and the watering down of occupational safety legislation.[15]

In 2015 Talley's locked out union members. The workers were allowed back to work five months later in 2016 when the lock-out was ruled illegal. Talley's was ordered to pay $144,000 to the Meat Workers Union for repeated breaches of union access rights.[16][17][18]

Health and safety

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Talley's has been found guilty on many occasions over health and safety breaches, including an incident where a fisherman was decapitated.[19][20][21][22]

Between 2018 and July 2021, Talley's Group faced formal enforcement actions 43 times from WorkSafe New Zealand, including 22 health and safety improvement notices and a recommendation for prosecution.[23] In December 2020, was fined $334,000 when they pleaded guilty over two different breaches where employees injured their hands.[24]

In July 2021, Talley's threatened an injunction to prevent One News running a story on leaked photos showing potential health and safety breaches.[25] Talley's denied these claims, saying the photos were taken out of context.[25] Following further allegations, Talley's initiated an independent review of their health and safety policies and WorkSafe New Zealand announced they were taking a closer look at their operations.[23][26]

In October 2021, it was revealed that a female Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) fisheries observer was repeatedly sexually harassed during a ten-week fishing trip.[27] This led to an industry-wide review of health and safety of the inspectors by MPI, and another private review undertaken by Talley's themselves.

In December 2021, Talley's Group filed a defamation suit against TVNZ for their reporting of the above health and safety issues, saying that TVNZ had made a "series of false and defamatory broadcasts."[28][29]

In June 2023, Talley's was fined $502,500 for the death of a worker in Affco's freezing works that was described by the presiding judge as a 'wholly avoidable event'.[30]

Environmental impact

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A subsidiary of Talley's, Amaltal Fishing Co., was convicted and fined for trawling in Hikurangi Marine Reserve in March 2019.[31] Amaltal Fishing Co. denied the charge, and Talley's denied responsibility.[32][33]

In January 2021, RNZ reported that Talley's was one of company's in New Zealand that regularly breached their trade waste consents.[34][35] In response, Talley's said that they were making substantial improvements towards "full compliance, all of the time" at their Motueka plant.[36]

In June 2021, Talley's replaced their polystyrene packaging with cardboard packaging, saving an estimated 180,000 polystyrene containers from landfill each year.[37]

Also in June 2021 Talley's was criticised by Greenpeace and the Australian Marine Conservation Society for their use of bottom trawlers in their fishing business, citing the negative environmental impact.[38] Talley's said that they were responsive to these concerns, and worked with government bodies to only trawl areas with healthy fishy stocks.[38]

Another case found Amaltal breached the conditions of its fishing permit in 2018, when Amaltal Apollo bottom-trawled on Lord Howe Rise, an area protected by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation.[39]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Our Heritage " Talleys". Talleys.co.nz. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Our Locations " Talleys". Talleys.co.nz. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Talleys makes play for Affco – Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News". Otago Daily Times. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Talley family wealth 'increased by $10m'". Stuff.co.nz. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Our Heritage " Talleys". Talleys.co.nz. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Bathurst Resources and Talley's buy three Solid Energy mines". Stuff. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Janie Seddon". maanz.wellington.net.nz. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  8. ^ "The Janie Seddon Motueka Shipwreck". Ilan Wittenberg Photographer. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Old wreck's days may be numbered". Stuff. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Meatworkers punished over union material". Radio New Zealand. 11 June 2015.
  11. ^ Dita De Boni (19 June 2015). "Blaming staff won't end injuries". The New Zealand Herald.
  12. ^ Fiona Rotherham (4 August 2015). "Affco workers vote to strike as meat company first to apply under new bargaining laws". National Business Review.
  13. ^ Talleys Fisheries Ltd v Lewis HC Auckland CIV 2005-485-1750 [2007] NZHC 1845; (2007) 8 HRNZ 413; (2007) 4 NZELR 447 (14 June 2007) Archived 15 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Danya Levy, Shane Cowlishaw and Sophie Speer (27 February 2012). "Talley's at centre of strike wave". Nelson Mail.
  15. ^ "Submission by Talley's Group Ltd to the Health & Safety Reform Bill". Parliament.nz. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Meatworker lock-out ends". Stuff. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  17. ^ "Union wins big victory over Talleys". Newstalk ZB. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  18. ^ "Talley's ordered to pay $144,000 penalties to Union". Scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  19. ^ "Talley's pays reparations to decapitated crewman's family after safety failure". Stuff. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Meat worker gets over $10k compensation". Radio New Zealand. 13 June 2015.
  21. ^ Charles Anderson (29 April 2015). "Talley's to pay $80,000 for death of crewman". Stuff.co.nz.
  22. ^ Tova O'Brien (15 June 2015). "Talley's pays worker $6000 over unsafe workplace". 3 News.
  23. ^ a b "Talley's launches independent review in response to allegations in 1 NEWS story". TVNZ. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Talley's fined more than $300,000 for worker safety breaches". Stuff. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  25. ^ a b "Exclusive: Whistleblower shares images of filthy conditions at Talley's factory". TVNZ. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  26. ^ "Exclusive: Former Talley's employee feared he would die on the job". TVNZ. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  27. ^ Mead, Thomas (24 October 2021). "Female fishing observer 'repeatedly sexually harassed' in nightmare Talley's voyage". 1 News. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Talley's Group sues TVNZ". Stuff. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Talley's sues TVNZ over health and safety breach allegations". RNZ. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  30. ^ "Affco fined $500,000 over worker's 'wholly avoidable' death in freezer". RNZ. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  31. ^ "Fishing company fined $27,600 for fishing in a protected marine reserve". Ministry for Primary Industries. 9 March 2021.
  32. ^ "Amaltal denies fishing in Hikurangi Marine Reserve". Radio New Zealand. RNZ News. 8 March 2020.
  33. ^ Neal, Tracey (10 August 2020). "Talley's skipper fined for marine reserve fishing, company denies responsibility". Radio New Zealand. RNZ News.
  34. ^ "Revealed: The companies dumping contaminants down the drain". RNZ. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  35. ^ "Companies dumping contaminants down the drain: Talleys, Ernest Adams and Yoplait identified". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  36. ^ "The companies who breached their trade waste consents respond". RNZ. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  37. ^ "Talley's switches from polysterene [sic] to cardboard for fish transport". Stuff. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  38. ^ a b "'We're the bad guys': Conservationists want NZ deep sea trawlers gone from Australia". Stuff. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  39. ^ Bohny, Skara (10 March 2022). "Talley's subsidiary found guilty of bottom trawling in conservation area". Stuff. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
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