It all began in 1974…
…with the founding of Mathias International Limited – proudly New Zealand owned specialist meat and seafood export company
As a business, growth and evolution has always been the order of the day. These are a few of the key milestones that have shaped our company.
| 1974 | Gray Mathias starts Mathias International Limited |
| 1979 | Lane Walker Rudkin purchases half of Mathias International, structuring the company into four specialist divisions – Meat (export and domestic), Seafood, Other Foodstuffs and Imports. |
| 1984 | David Credin founds Farmlands Industries Limited in partnership with Gray Mathias. |
| 1987 | Mathias International purchases a share of Blue Sky Meats and Waitotara Meat Company and takes over lamb exports under the Horizon Lamb brand. |
| 1996 | Mathias International is sold to AFFCO and continues operating as a specialist trading and marketing company with eight offices around the world. |
| 2000 | Talley’s Group Limited takes a controlling interest in AFFCO and divests its interest in Mathias International to a group of private owners including Wilson Hellaby. |
| 2010 | Mathias International purchases Farmlands Industries Limited and the two companies begin to work closer together while still operating separately. |
| 2014 | Farmlands Mathias International is born as the two companies officially unite under a new shareholder group of current staff members and Wilson Hellaby. |
| 2016 | Farmlands Mathias International moves to its purpose-built Distribution Centre and Head Office, located close to Auckland International Airport. |
| 2018 | Farmlands Mathias International enters into a JV with Wholesale Meats Direct 2018 Ltd. Wholesale Meats Direct is a specialist Toll Processing and added value facility. The business operates two production sites and a handful of niche factory stores in the New Zealand market. |
| 2018 | An amicable deal between Wilson Hellaby Limited and Farmlands International Limited is confirmed. Farmlands International Limited has purchased 50% shareholding in Farmlands Mathias International. |
From the archives
We’ve collected a fair bit of memorabilia during our time in business. Here are a few pieces from our vaults.
