Bega chairman Barry Irvin says Aussie country values key to navigating ESG

The chairman overseeing Vegemite says more ASX firms should trade the big cities for the bush to connect with workers and rediscover the values needed to tackle modern issues.

Bega Group executive chairman Barry Irvin says companies should spend less time in boardrooms deciding ESG policies and more time taking actual action. Picture: Supplied

The directors of ASX-listed companies should spend less time in the boardrooms of Sydney and Melbourne, and more time channelling country town values to better serve workers and community knowledge about ESG requirements, says Bega executive chairman Barry Irvin.

Overseeing a staple of 34 iconic Aussie food brands including Vegemite and Bega Cheese, the company is a rarity on the Australian Securities Exchange — opting to be based in Bega on NSW’s south coast, rather than in the country’s two largest cities.

It is the same location where the Bega Group transformed from a local dairy cooperative in 1899 to a ASX 300-listed business generating revenue of more than $3bn.

Mr Irvin told The Australian the company owed its success to its roots and maintaining a sense of community as the company celebrates its 125th anniversary this month.

“My mother used to always say to me, never get too big for your boots. And when you keep your values close to you and remember your origins, you have a level of humility,” he said.

Bega is celebrating its 125th anniversary this month.

“We still have that level of humility around how we go about doing business and how we work with people. I can still point to families or dairy farming families in the Bega Valley that go back to 1899 and have stayed with us on the journey.”

Almost 70 per cent of companies listed on the ASX 100 are based in Sydney and Melbourne. Mr Irvin, who was born in the Bega Valley and has overseen Bega since 2000, said not being removed from its workers and supplies has fostered a culture of responsibility among executives.

“You become close to people you’re relying on. It makes a huge difference, it creates a different culture, because you don’t get removed from the business, whether that’s walking down the street and running into a farmer or indeed a customer,” he said.

“Even though we have a factory in Port Melbourne, our executives work in the same building instead of the CBD. You go to the canteen and have lunch with staff. It creates a typically Australian culture.”

Mr Irvin said that the company has remained true to its roots throughout its history.

Ahead of speaking at The Australian’s Global Food Forum in Brisbane this month on free trade, sustainability and ESG, Mr Irvin said sustainable and ESG issues were natural for Bega, and ones many companies needed a rethink.

“It’s important that we actually take action. Sometimes there is more focus on words that are written when it would be better, less resources were spent on that and more on getting out and doing things,” he said.

“Those country town philosophies for many people that work for Bega tend to carry these issues forward. ESG is something almost in their DNA because if you think about farming, farmers do tend to think about generational succession.”

Mr Irvin, whose son is the sixth generation of the Irvin family to farm in the Bega Valley, said companies had a responsibility to do their part to preserve the environment and having executives based out of the city meant a vested interest in doing their part.

“In the era I grew up in, in a small country town, if you wanted to play football on the weekend, you went and repaired the oval to make sure it was ready, and you held a working bee,” he said.

Barry Irvin owns a farm in the Bega Valley and says working in regional Australia has heightened the importance of being sustainable. Picture: Robert Hayson

“We were always told it is the responsibility of all of us, and therefore we must make our contribution. We all have our shared responsibility. And if you take it to the next step then if you have the added capacity to help, you should.”

Bega has grown its stable in recent years to include Vegemite, Dairy Farmers and Meander Valley Dairy. Mr Irvin said the company would always look to continue to grow and expand, with Bega wanting to develop its brands in Asia and Middle East.

“It’s a very strong business with great opportunities within the business now. We see those opportunities in Australia where there is strong loyalty to our brands, but we also want to meet the future requirements of our future consumers,” he said.

Bega has seen a noticeable shift in the market with stronger demand from consumers after health and convenience requirements, as it says inflationary pressures remain across the industry but are easing.

“The strongest demand drivers at the moment are nutrition, convenience, value for money, and then sustainability,” he said. “The demand for those products has just taken off.”

“Post-Covid there were just extraordinarily inflationary impacts across our entire supply chain. We’re still seeing areas of inflation, but it is easing in terms of the total effect it was having on our business.”