The View From Level 3

Sulphur Jack's Son

Posted by Ramsey Margolis on 29 September 2009 | 0 Comments

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Ravensdown sales rep Mike Davey’s father was known as Sulphur Jack to his work colleagues who alleged there was no blood in his body, just a potent blend of adrenalin and fertiliser.

Interviewed by the Taranaki Daily News on 30 April, 2009, Mike tells of following his father into the fertiliser industry as a sales rep, starting with investor-owned New Zealand Farmers’ Fertiliser in 1965.

The two businesses might sell similar products but it’s how they treat the farmers that shows they are light years apart:

“...there is a marked difference between working for a corporate and a cooperative, says Mr Davey, who recalls a dramatic change in culture when Ravensdown [the cooperative] bought out New Zealand Farmers’ Fertiliser [the corporate, or investor-owned firm] in 1998.

“In my father’s day with New Zealand Farmers’ Fertiliser, it was basically a distribution industry. Today, it’s totally different,” he says.

“We actually recommend the right product to suit individual situations and if the farmer concerned doesn’t need fertiliser, we will advise them accordingly.

“The farmer is our prime concern rather than the sale. It is a complete reversal to what it was back in the 1960s.

“I have been with Ravensdown for 11 years and the philosophy is completely different. I had come from a corporate background and it wasn’t easy to adjust.

“Under the old regime the aim was to get as many sales as we could. With this company that is not the case because every farmer is our shareholder.

“It was difficult for a start, but I actually buy into that philosophy because if a farmer doesn’t need fertiliser then I think the professional and prudent thing is not to sell it to him.”

Have you seen a clearer understanding of why people decide to be part of a cooperative?●

– from the June/July 2009 Cooperatives News