Raising the steaks: MMG eyes acquisitions
Tim Clarke’s family has been a constant in the nation’s agriculture sector since 1829.
Tim Clarke’s family has been a constant in the nation’s agriculture sector since 1829.
“I’m lucky to be part of a family that has contributed greatly to the development of Australia. The pitchfork brand is in our branding. My great-great-grandfather built Mandeville Hall,’’ Clarke tells The Weekend Australian, referring to one of the most lavishly decorated 19th century mansions in upmarket Toorak.
“That whole legacy is important to me. I would like to think the current generation of the family continue to make a worthy contribution. I would hope that part of what we are doing at the moment will continue all of that. We have always been fully invested in Australia.”
Clarke’s Mandeville Meat Group, better known as MMG 1829 Holdings, is a leading vertically integrated meat supply group which is currently finalising the acquisition of the Tabro abattoir in Wonthaggi, southeast of Melbourne.
Clarke believes the acquisition marks the first step in an exciting growth phase for the MMG 1829 group.
“The learnings and experiences I have had in the past is obviously that there is probably always more money in meat processing and the post-farm gate,’’ he says.
“You get a bigger return on your money, albeit with depreciating assets and machinery.
“But my true passion is farming and the livestock linked in with grazing, soils and cropping. I get a great reward of putting the bull with the cow and sitting around with friends and eating something you have produced yourself.”
While MMG’s deal earlier this year to purchase leading international meat merchant Inter Agri Group did not proceed at the request of the vendor, MMG remains in expansion mode.
It is looking at strategic acquisitions to create a supply chain that addresses key challenges such as food security and sustainability, with a strong focus on provenance to feed the growing demands of increasingly sophisticated consumers.
The MMG vertical supply chain targets domestic and international consumers via retail, food service and online markets.
But most important for Clarke is the firm’s contribution to sustainable farming.
Appearing at The Australian’s Global Food Forum this week, Clarke said producers of alternative proteins should not be denigrating the meat industry when the sector will actually be part of the solution to climate change.
“You never see the wool industry criticising the cotton industry,” he said.
Clarke, who has strong beliefs around the climate change issue and animal welfare, says there is a huge role the meat industry can play to market itself and counter the misinformation that is broadcast by what he describes as “vested interests that are anti-animal protein and animal production.”
“There are few industries where you have a mission from the boardroom to the production floor. There is a lot of misinformation around greenhouse emissions from livestock. At the end of the day cooked animal protein made us who we are,’’ he says.
Clarke revealed at the GFF that MMG would in the next fortnight sign off on a number of energy initiatives that would make the firm net exporters of energy to the electricity grid.
“It is what we want to do because it is the right thing to do. And from a business perspective a prudent thing to do. If you reduce your carbon footprint, you reduce your input costs and you become more profitable.
“With our electricity initiatives alone we are looking at saving 60 per cent of our energy costs. It also enhances our story, our branding and our integrity of who we are and what we want to do,” he told the forum.
He said MMG was going into some higher-end markets for its products.
“A lot of the alternative protein markets are in the higher-end socio-economic groups. We want to be selling into those markets, answering their requests and their demands,’’ he said.
“But we also want to be taking those same philosophies to the lower margin, more commodity-based markets around the world.”
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