Talley's Group facts for kids

Talley's Group Limited is a private company from New Zealand. It works in agribusiness, which means it deals with farming and food. Talley's provides seafood, vegetables, and dairy products.

The company started in 1936 in Motueka. It was founded by Ivan Peter Talijancich, who later became known as Ivan Talley. He began by making seafood products. Since then, Talley's has grown a lot. It is now one of the biggest agribusiness companies in New Zealand.

The main office for Talley's is in Port Motueka. This site also has the seafood and dairy parts of the company. The vegetable part of the business started in Motueka in 1978. It later moved to Blenheim and Ashburton. Talley's also owns most of a meat company called AFFCO Holdings.

In 2016, Talley's started doing something new. They began mining coal. They bought some old mines with another company called Bathurst Resources. These mines were in places like Stockton and Rotowaro.

The Story of Talley's

The old ship Janie Seddon

The first fishing boat owned by Talley's was called the Janie Seddon. This ship was built in the United Kingdom in 1903. It was one of two special ships brought to New Zealand that year. These ships were used to lay mines in the water.

The Janie Seddon was based in Wellington. Its sister ship, the Lady Roberts, was in Auckland. The Janie Seddon was used in the port during World War I and World War II. During World War II, it also served as a ship that checked other vessels entering the port.

In 1936, Talley's Fisheries bought the Janie Seddon. It was their very first boat. The ship stopped being used in 1955. Today, you can still see its old, rusty body on the Motueka foreshore. It is near the main office of Talley's.

Working at Talley's

Talley's has sometimes been in the news for how it deals with its workers. The company has tried to make rules that limit the power of worker groups called trade unions. They have also tried to change laws about safety at work.

In 2015, Talley's stopped some union workers from coming to work. This is called a lockout. The workers were allowed back to work five months later in 2016. A court decided that the lockout was not allowed. Talley's had to pay $144,000 to the Meat Workers Union. This was because they had repeatedly stopped the union from talking to workers.

Looking After Our Planet

Talley's and its related companies have faced some issues about their impact on the environment.

One of Talley's companies, Amaltal Fishing Co., was caught fishing in a protected area. This happened in the Hikurangi Marine Reserve in March 2019. The company was fined for this. Amaltal Fishing Co. said they did not do it on purpose. Talley's said they were not responsible.

In January 2021, a news group called RNZ reported something important. They said Talley's was one of the companies in New Zealand that often broke rules about waste water. This is water that goes down drains from factories. Talley's said they were working hard to fix this at their Motueka factory. They wanted to follow all the rules all the time.

In June 2021, Talley's made a positive change. They stopped using foam packaging for their products. Instead, they started using cardboard. This change saves about 180,000 foam containers from going into landfills each year.

Also in June 2021, Talley's received criticism from groups like Greenpeace. They were worried about Talley's use of bottom trawlers for fishing. Bottom trawlers drag large nets along the ocean floor. This can harm the environment. Talley's said they listen to these concerns. They also said they work with the government to only fish in areas where there are many healthy fish.

In another case, Amaltal broke its fishing rules in 2018. One of its ships, Amaltal Apollo, used a bottom trawler in a protected area. This area was the Lord Howe Rise. It is protected by a group called the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation.

Images for kids

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  The rusting hull of the Janie Seddon