Fonterra stole the show during last month’s sentencing of 1080 blackmailer Jeremy Kerr.
Of all the dairy producers that Kerr hit in the pocket, the co-operative was the only one which appeared in person to verbally denounce his offending and the damage it could have caused to the New Zealand economy.
Since-departed executive Maury Leyland told Chief High Court Judge Geoffrey Venning it was «hard to imagine a worse threat to the viability of the company, the wider dairy industry and the country».
No doubt Kerr’s sentencing was seen as an important occasion for Fonterra, given that it spent more than $20 million responding to his threat to spike milk formula with 1080.
But while this was more than half of the total cost of the 60-year-old’s blackmail, other smaller dairy producers were hit harder than Fonterra, taking their turnover into account.
Synlait, for instance, was forced to spend $1.9 million to mitigate the threat.
That might seem small stuff compared to the scare’s cost to Fonterra, but when you take into account their respective turnovers ($19 billion and $448 million), the Rakaia-based company comes out worse off.
Although Justice Venning referred to the harm Kerr’s offending had caused smaller producers, the likes of Synlait didn’t get an individual mention during the hearing.
However, around 10 dairy firms provided the court with victim impact statements, which the judge said he had read before the sentencing.
Source: NZHerald