Sanford people have a passion for the seafood industry and a depth of loyalty to our company that is truly unique. Our quality assurance, brand, sales and supply chain logistics teams are fully integrated with our fishing, farming and processing operations, to consistently deliver a superior high quality, safe product.
Our leaders’ role is to develop and nurture an environment that empowers our people to be the best they can be.
Meet the exec team.
David became Sanford’s Managing Director on 01 May 2024. He is also an Executive Director on the Sanford board.
David has significant leadership experience. He was CEO of NZX-listed Skellerup Holdings Limited from 2011 until early 2024. He was also involved in a2 Milk from 2008 until the company listed on the ASX in 2015. He remains a Director of Skellerup.
David was judged Deloitte Top 200 CEO of the Year for 2021 and in 2022 he was awarded the prestigious Johnson Partners Leadership Award from the Institute of Finance Professionals (INFINZ).
David holds a degree in civil engineering and an MBA from Canterbury University. He is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors.
David grew up in Dunedin. He has always been into sport and at the age of 23, he travelled to Japan to focus on martial arts. He lived there for more than ten years and married his wife, Yoshie there.
David says “For obvious reasons, my wife and I really enjoy raw fish. I’m a Dunedin boy, so my favourite species to eat are gurnard and blue cod”.
Paul joined Sanford in October 2021 as a highly experienced business executive and leader. His background includes CEO and CFO roles at Cavalier Corporation and Turners and Growers, two significant New Zealand businesses. Prior to that Paul has also worked in Europe at J P Morgan and Deutsche Bank. He brings with him great experience, capability, leadership and new dimensions to our team.
Paul sees Sanford as a New Zealand icon with over 150 years of history and believes there is a bright future ahead. He is helping steer Sanford forward as we work our way back from the impacts of Covid while continuing to feed the world in a sustainable fashion.
Debra joined the Sanford Exec team in mid-2023 as Chief People Officer and has over 20 years of experience working in senior, international HR roles for businesses such as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Danaher Industries, IAG, BAE Systems and GEC Marconi in roles that covered Europe, North America, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
For the last two years Debra has run her own successful HR Consulting business, using her industry experience to provide interim HR support and assist with organisation redesigns.
Debra says she’s really excited to join a long-standing New Zealand business, one which is focused on growth.
Debra hails from the UK and in her spare time loves to go to the beach with friends and her two dogs, and collect tuatuas in the early morning light and catch fish and then get it battered at the local fish and chip shop before enjoying it on the deck.
After almost 30 years in the business, Andrew joined the Sanford Executive team in 2023 as Executive General Manager Mussels.
He joined Sanford in 1994 as Site Quality Manager, working his way up through the ranks to Group Quality Manager within 3 years. During his time with New Zealand’s oldest seafood company, he has held many roles, including China Manager, where he was responsible for working closely with international partners to operate a seafood processing plant in China, delivering successful new product formats to international clients. His next role with Sanford was Product Development Manager, before settling into his role as General Manager, Innovation back in 2014.
Andrew and his family relocated from Auckland to beautiful Marlborough, where he was able to focus on all things innovation at Sanford’s mussel powder extract centre.
In 2022, Andrew proudly opened Sanford’s purpose built innovation centre in Blenheim, Sanford Bioactives, where he is based today. This centre was a labour of love for Andrew and he couldn’t be more proud of his site and more importantly, his team who produce the highest-quality marine extract ingredients.
Andrew is University of Otago alumni, having graduated in 1994 with BSC Microbiology, Food Science and in 2003, came away with an MBA.
With four decades of experience in the marine and seafood sector, Vaughan has incomparable knowledge and understanding of the industry, as well its customers, and has developed strong Governmental relationships, consumer insights, and industry connections.
Always having had an interest in the ocean and its inhabitants, Vaughan turned a life-long passion into a life-long career. After completing a Master of Science (First Class Honours) in Marine Biology, Vaughan covered a variety of roles from Oceanographer, to Fisheries Manager for the Ministry of Fisheries. He then moved to the business side of the industry, holding a series of senior management positions at various fishing establishments. This includes Sanford where he drove product innovation as the General Manager of Marketing and Development from 2005 until 2014. This storied career has given Vaughan extensive experience in transport and logistic supply chains in both the export and import of primary products, as well as diverse governance and public policy experience having Chaired major domestic and international seafood industry stakeholder bodies.
Outside of work, Vaughan still holds a strong passion and interest in our ocean, even being a part of the redevelopment of the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter on the Auckland waterfront.
