event: retail meat new Zealand butchers’ summit

Speaker Lineup

Keynote speaker: Sir John Kirwan. Many people know JK as a sporting legend but did you know he trained to be a butcher? After leaving school at the age of 15, JK started his butcher apprenticeship, working with his father in a butcher shop, in Onehunga.

The former All Black and 1987 Rugby World Cup winner became a “Sir” in 2012, joining a list that includes other well-known former All Blacks. However, unlike his fellow All Blacks, Kirwan was recognised as much, if not more, for his contribution outside of rugby; for services to mental health, having been for several years at the forefront of the campaign to heighten public awareness of depression, an illness he has suffered from himself.

Tim Warren, AI Founder. Tim explores the future of the workforce, both human and digital. Artificial intelligence is not what you think, it's not going to replace humans in an instant, it's going to progressively change roles and disrupt industries. They say you are not going to lose your job to a computer, you are going to lose it to a person who uses artificial intelligence.

Shane Cameron, from Farmer to Boxer, to Businessman: Coming from humble beginnings and having a varied and exciting journey through life has meant that Shane has encountered lots of challenges, and will be sharing his stories and the invaluable life lessons he’s learned along the way.

Ting Huang, Senior Economist at NZIER. Ting will give us the low down on the current and future economic landscapes, what the predictions are with the new government, and the impacts of trade and export on the world and local markets, and of course, we are all eager to get more insights into inflation and interest rates.

Andrew Childs, Founder and Co-CEO of Behemoth Brewing Company. Andrew will share his story of how he turned his back on a prospective legal career to take up brewing full-time. In just 8 years, he successfully founded and propelled a business with a remarkable $11 million turnover.

Matthew Tierney, Manager of the National Retail Investigation Support Unit (NRISU). How to lessen the impact of retail crime on the community is the $1 billion question for Police. That’s how much the offending costs each year in New Zealand – affecting business owners, staff and ultimately customers, who face increased prices to cover these costs. Matt will share how the NRISU partners with the retail sector and crime prevention organisations to draw on data, identify patterns and work with district staff to hold high-harm offenders to account.

Carolyn Young, CEO of Retail NZ. In July 2023, Retail Meat New Zealand established our dual membership with Retail NZ. Carolyn will share what advice and services are available to our members and what Retail NZ is doing in the retail advocacy space with the new government and their first 100 days.

‘Global Cuisine’ Consumer Trends’ panel discussion: Here you will hear from experts discussing and analysing current and emerging trends in the FMCG market. Panellists include:

Hayden Williams, Newly Weds Foods
Yvette Basson, Kantar
Fiona Mancer, Surge SMC

We will also have industry updates from:

Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Katie Ward, Marketing Manager

NZPork, Brent Kleiss, Chief Executive Officer

Pact Packaging, Jamie Phillips, Business Unit Manager

Skills4Work, Tamia Roff, Chief Executive Officer

SPEAKER LINE UP

Sir John Kirwan

Sir John Kirwan, or JK as we know him, is a globally recognised mental health advocate, author, entrepreneur, and a rugby legend. He's the co-founder of Groov, a leading workplace wellbeing platform. Groov's mission is to improve the wellbeing of 100 million people and save 100,000 lives by ingraining wellbeing into the DNA of a workplace and supporting people to feel good and function well.
In 2012, JK was knighted for his services to mental health – an honour he strives to live up to every day. He’s long been at the forefront of public campaigns about mental wellbeing. JK began sharing his personal story of depression at a time when there was a lot of stigma. His vulnerability paves the way for people to talk about their own experiences.
Many people also know JK as a sporting legend but did you know he trained to be a butcher? After leaving school at 15, JK started his butcher apprenticeship working with his father in a butcher shop, in Onehunga.
In his sporting career he played 63 test matches for the All Blacks from 1984 to 1994 and was part of the winning 1987 Rugby World Cup team. He also played for the Warriors and had success as a rugby coach, including on the international stage with Italy and Japan.
JK is a family man who likes nothing better than to surf, cook, and make a perfect cup of coffee. He lives in Auckland with his wife, Fiorella. They have three children, now grown and pursuing their dreams throughout the world.

Tim Warren

Co-Founder of Ambit - a leading NZ AI software company

Bio

Highly rated and award-winning speaker, Tim Warren is Co-Founder of Ambit (ambit.ai) - a leading NZ AI software company.

Tim has held an exciting and diverse career as an executive across Software and Finance and is an angel investor with over 15 investments. His previous experience includes being a former executive at Goldman Sachs, COO of JBWere, Financial Services Consultant and Software developer at WinGate. Outside of this, Tim plays drums as a professional musician, currently in a world music band, previously in Jazz, Orchestral, Pop and Rock.

2023 Butcher's Summit Speaker — Brent Kleiss

Chief Executive Officer, NZPork

Bio

Brent has a science degree from the University of Canterbury, majoring in Biology and 13 years’ experience with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). His roles in MPI have included 5 years as a chief Quarantine officer with Biosecurity New Zealand and more recently as a Principal Advisor in stakeholder and industry engagement with their Public Affairs Branch. Brent joined the NZPork team in July 2021 as policy manager, bringing widespread experience in the primary sector to the role, prior to being appointed as NZPork Chief Executive.

Andrew Childs

Founder and Co-CEO of Behemoth Brewing Company

BIO

Andrew is the founder and Co-CEO of Behemoth, responsible for brewing operations, product development and logistics. Andrew’s passion for great beer and entrepreneurial spirit inspired him to leave the legal profession to establish Behemoth in 2013. Andrew has led the growth of the business from a turnover of NZD258 thousand in FY15 to NZD11 million in FY23.

Andrew has led all external aspects of the business including sales, brand direction, marketing strategy and key business relationships. Andrew’s main passion is creating new beers and developing the taste experience for Behemoth’s consumers.

Andrew is focused on driving the overall Behemoth growth strategy which is collectively formed by the board of directors and senior management team.

Jason Pears

Butcher Series: Owner operator of Kiwi Fresh Meats

BIO

With a solid foundation in the butchery industry, my journey began in 1994 with Bluff Meat Supply, one of South Africa's largest butchery groups, where I immersed myself in various roles, starting from cleaning offal and offloading trucks. Despite initially seeking an apprenticeship in the tool and die making industry, my attention to detail and penchant for asking questions propelled me forward. I swiftly rose through the ranks, becoming the youngest store manager and subsequently the youngest partner within the Bluff Meat Supply Group. Together with my wife, Debbie, also a partner in the company, we strategically strengthened our shareholdings by pooling our incomes.

As our store outgrew its space, we seized the opportunity to transform a courier business warehouse into a thriving store. However, with the company's expansion and our decision to immigrate, Rand Merchant Bank acquired a significant stake, facilitating our exit strategy by purchasing our shares. Drawing on my experience in small goods manufacturing, I relocated to New Zealand, where I secured residency after two years at Aussie Butcher Tauranga. Subsequently, I acquired the business, driven by a passion for the trade.

Navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship, I'm proud to have earned four awards for Kiwi Fresh Meat within a short span of acquiring the business. Beyond the realm of butchery, I thrive on challenges, having explored unconventional sports such as amateur Cage fighting, powerlifting, off-road challenges, and competitive sport shooting, even in my late 30s. My diverse experiences have honed my adaptability, resilience, and drive for success in both professional and personal endeavors.

Ting Huang

New Zealand Institute of Economic Research

Bio

Ting Huang is a Senior Economist at NZIER. She works alongside the Head of Membership Services in delivering NZIER’s long-established Quarterly Predictions and Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion, and macro-economic analysis and forecasts for NZIER’s members and clients. Since joining NZIER in July 2022, she has also worked on several economic impact assessments and projects on a range of topical issues.

Prior to joining NZIER, Ting also has almost 8 years of experience in the public sector – both local and central government. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to telling the stories behind complex data and research and making them accessible to people from non-economic backgrounds

Bio

Katie has a background in marketing, communications and events across publishing, advertising, and client-side. In her role at Beef & Lamb NZ she leads the marketing team for all marketing and communications activity.

Eli Barrington

National Sales Manager - Pact Group

INFO

Industry update from Eli Barrington National Sales Manager at Pact Group has some important information to share on keeping the circular economy going.

INFO

Tamai Roff, CEO, at Skills4Work will update us on industry training and apprenticeships

Matthew Tierney

National Retail Investigations Support Unit

Bio

Matthew Tierney is the Manager of the National Retail Investigation Support Unit for the New Zealand Police. This new unit works to tackle the the most violent and recidivist retail theft offenders, taking an overview approach to identifying patterns of behaviour across different police districts. Matt was a police officer for 16 years and left in early 2020. In early 2022 Matt was reemployed by the police to establish this new unit, which works very closely with the retail sector to reduce harm from crime.

Carolyn Young

Chief Executive Officer, Retail NZ

Bio

As Chief Executive with over 10 years experience Carolyn’s days at Retail NZ are spent working with her team on behalf of retailers. As a member based organisation Retail NZ offers advice, tools and resources to members and also advocates with Government to influence and change legislation that is in place for retailers. Some recent wins include the repeal of the Fair Pay Agreements, extension of the 90 day clause and modest increase in the minimum wage. We are currently working on a range of changes with other regulations that the new coalition Government have implemented in the first 100 days, across sectors including immigration, health, workforce etc.

When Carolyn is not working she is an avid sports fan supporting both the Central Pulse netball team and Hurricanes (and any other sport) and enjoys cycling, hiking and walking the family dog.

Shane Cameron

From Farmer, to Boxer, to Businessman

BIO

Coming from humble beginnings and having a varied and exciting journey through life has meant that Shane Cameron has encountered lots of challenges, lots of different people and learned a lot of lessons.

Shane says: “Boxing has taught me a lot. I've had success and I've made my fair share of mistakes. But I don't hide from them, I learn from them. Failure is nothing to be embarrassed about. It's part of life and it can be your greatest teacher. I've surrounded myself with people that have challenged me, they've supported me and I may have left school at 13 but I've never stopped learning. Whatever I do, I give it 100%.”

From farmer, to boxer, to businessman. Shane was born in Wellington, New Zealand and raised in Tiniroto, a small farming community on the East Coast of the north island. His heritage is both Maori and European, his mother of Rongomaiwahine descent, hailing from Mahia and strong Scottish ancestry on his father's side.

Growing up in a rural community meant there was no local boxing club so he spent all his spare time out on the farm, but that fiery Scottish blood came in handy for his late start in boxing at the age of 19. It wasn't until he went on his OE to England that he laced up, trained hard and had his first amateur fight.

“My grandfather used to fight in the early 1930s and I always liked listening to his stories. He was even boxing on the boat when he came over from Scotland at the age of seven. He'd go running up the hills at three in the morning and sparring with no mouthguard, headgear, or proper gloves”. That shared relentless drive and determination put him in good stead to build his boxing legacy.

A few significant highlights of his amateur career include becoming number three in England in the cruiser weight division after only boxing for 18 months and winning a bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. With 48 amateur fights under his belt, Shane turned professional in 2002 after the Games, kicking off an exciting professional career… The Mountain Warrior was born. Shane also won the Jamieson Belt for NZ's most scientific boxer in 2001.

Fighting out of New Zealand, Australia and America, Shane quickly built a reputation as an exhilarating fighter with a good chin. Pro career highlights include sparring with boxing icons Mike Tyson and David Haye, reaching number 1 mandatory fighter in IBO and fighting for a world title in 2012. With a 34 fight history – the most significant was fighting for a world title against Danny Green.

Retiring from boxing has opened up a number of business opportunities for Shane who is a firm believer that you should never stop learning. The Shane Cameron Group includes a range of entities: Shane Cameron Fitness Gym, Shane Cameron Promotions and his latest commercial venture - Counterpunch by Shane Cameron, a top quality boxing range available online and onsite at Shane Cameron Fitness.