Joe Lewis’ top lieutenant was a 30-year vegetarian, and that was proving a problem for an investment in Australian beef giant AACo.

“I’d look like an idiot if I wouldn’t even try AACo’s product during my visit,” Shehan Dissanayake told academics in a Harvard Business School paper. So he spoke to a Buddhist priest for another perspective, hired a nutritionist and underwent a “meat training program” before visiting the company’s cattle stations, part of a portfolio that makes up 1 per cent of Australia.