Changing the game

How a keen eye for building strategic relationships changed the game for Ātihau.

Entrepreneurial spirit, strategic vision and a unique mix of operational and governance expertise – according to Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation relationship partners, these are just some of the strengths former chair Mavis Mullins brought to the table.

The long-serving chair stepped down from the chairmanship and the Committee of Management last year in order to create space for growth and succession.

The first wahine to chair Ātihau ushered in a new era of diversification to spread risk and strengthen resilience, enabling the Incorporation to earn income from a diversity of business activities as well as sheep and beef. She also focused on the importance of strategic alliances, connecting the Incorporation to a wide range of people and organisations, skills, expertise, markets and opportunities.

Te Rūnanga o Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa chair Pahia Turia says her operational and Māori governance expertise brought a strategic focus to the Te Hou Farm joint venture. When the iwi went into negotiations with the Crown to buy back Flock House Farm, the price was beyond them.

“We looked for partners and had a conversation with Mavis and Che [Wilson] about whether Ātihau would partner with us. That’s where the working relationship began.”

The initial partnership to purchase what is now Te Hou Farm was the iwi, Ātihau, and farmers Hew and Roger Dalrymple.

“Having that extensive farming experience sitting around the table has been massive. We as an iwi needed that to support the development programme we’ve undertaken on the farm.”

The Dalrymples exited several years ago. A two-way partnership remains between Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa and Ātihau.

“It has been huge for us to have the expertise of Ātihau to support us in an operational capacity and also from a governance perspective. Mavis has a skill set that is not easily found. She brought to the table significant industry knowledge, being a farmer herself and being quite heavily involved in the primary sectors.

“I want to thank her and wish her all the very best from our iwi for the huge contribution she’s made to our iwi, supporting us to become farmers once again. We’d been divorced from our lands for over 100 years, so we needed to make sure we got this right and had the right people at the table. Mavis was a huge part of that, right from first conversation. She saw it not only as an investment opportunity but a chance to build relationships and connections.

“It wouldn’t have happened without them, that’s how significant it was for us as an iwi. We’ll always be hugely indebted to them for that, always.”

In the United States, Ātihau formed another strategic partnership, this time with specialist distribution company Broadleaf, which supplies high-quality meat to wholesalers across America. From his base in Los Angeles, owner Mark Mitchell said Broadleaf connected with Ātihau through Mavis about nine years ago.

“I’m from near Alexandra in Central Otago – I worked for a shearing contractor in my teens. When we met in Los Angeles, we realised we knew each other when we were younger. As soon as we realised we had those connections, we got on like a house on fire.

“It really is all about relationships. Mavis has a really good understanding of people and especially country folk and farmers. She knows how it all comes together, from the time the product leaves the farm and goes to the processing plant to when it goes offshore to an importer and a manufacturer and a marketer. She understands what everyone does and what our challenges are, so it all fell into place. We started selling Ātihau beef and lamb.

“It was an easy relationship. Because of that, nothing was a problem, we just fixed it.”

Broadleaf supplies Ātihau products mostly to fine-dining hotels and restaurants. Every few years, the company brings four or five of its best customers to New Zealand for insight into where the product comes from.

“They get an appreciation of how it’s not just about the sheep and the cattle, it’s the people and the land – and at the end, you have a very special quality product.”

Former chair of Parininihi ki Waitōtara, Hinerangi RaumatiTu’ua, says the two women shared information and explored working together.

“Everyone looks for potential partners, everyone looks at what other entities are doing in order to figure out what you could be doing.

“We were both chairs of similar and like-minded incorporations focused on similar developmental paths. There were also similarities and connections between the shareholders, as well as some overlap.”

Hinerangi says Mavis brings an entrepreneur’s spirit to what she does.

“She is seen as a person with a commercial lens and an experienced governor.”

Current Ātihau chair Dr Tiwha Puketapu says his predecessor broke new ground.

“She changed the game for us around governance – skill, knowledge and experience now lines hard up against inheritance, and inheritance alone is not sufficient.

“She was our first woman chair – to be breaking glass ceilings is not a small thing. It is important for our daughters and nieces to know there are other ways to do things now.

“And, at the same time, Mavis concentrated our focus on those things that are most important to us – looking after our land and providing for our people.”