Meet our board members – the people who help to set our goals and oversee our direction.
CHAIRMAN, INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Appointed to Board in 2016, appointed Deputy Chair 2018, appointed Chairman in 2019
Role at Sanford
Chairman of Board and Nominations Committee, member of Audit Finance and Risk Committee and People, Health & Safety Committee.
Rob is also Chairman of Ngati Porou Holding Company Limited.
Rob has had an extensive professional and governance career both within the accounting profession and various public and private companies. His past directorships include, ANZ National Bank, Sky City Entertainment Group and Telecom. He is a past Chairman of Aotearoa Fisheries Limited (now Moana), Sealord Group Limited and was a Commissioner of the Waitangi Fisheries Commission. He has chaired and been a member of a number of Government Task Forces and is also a past Chairman of the New Zealand Business Roundtable. His most recent roles were as CEO of Ernst & Young Australasia based in Sydney from 2010 to the end of 2014 and New Zealand Chairman for the 2015 calendar year prior to his retirement from EY.
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Appointed to Board in 2021
Member of Nominations Committee.
Craig has extensive managerial and governance experience across a wide range of sectors.
Past roles show a long involvement in the Fisheries and Seafood sector including running the marketing, finance and quota management for his family company, Ōtākou Fisheries. He was the past Chair of Wellington Zoo, Chief Executive of Ngāi Tahu Holdings, Chair of Ngāi Tahu Seafood, Poutama Trust, Moana Pacific, Prepared Foods, the NZ Seafood Standards Council, as well as serving on the Executive of the Fishing Industry Association Board, and numerous stakeholder organisations.
He has previously served on the Board of Airways New Zealand, NIWA, the Trade Liberalisation Network, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and Co-chaired the PECC Fisheries Task Force (with Chinese Taipei).
Craig was a Commissioner with the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission (Te Ohu Kai Moana) as it worked though the Allocation model and giving effect to the Fisheries Settlement. After the agreement on allocation methodology Craig served on the board of Aotearoa Fisheries. He was also a member on the Te Ohu Kai Moana review panel.
Craig graduated from Otago University with a Masters in Zoology and is a proud alumni of the Te Hono group (class of 2015)
CEO
Appointed to Board in 2022
Managing Director.
David has significant corporate experience. He was CEO of NZX-listed Skellerup Holdings Limited from 2011 until early 2024 and has been a director since 2006. He was also involved in a2 Milk from 2008 until the company listed on the ASX in 2015.
David was recently judged Deloitte Top 200 CEO of the Year for 2021 and given the prestigious Johnson Partners Leadership Award from the Institute of Finance Professionals (INFINZ), which speaks to the quality of his leadership and focus.
David holds a degree in civil engineering and an MBA from Canterbury University. He is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors.
David is also currently a director of Forté Funds Management Limited.
Appointed to Board in 2023
Chair of the People, Health and Safety Committee, member of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee
John has had an extensive professional career and is a leading commercial lawyer. He was a partner at Chapman Tripp, a national full service corporate law firm, from 1993 to 2022, and remains a consultant of the firm. John specialises in corporate, contract and securities law, with particular expertise in mergers & acquisitions.
John was named NZ Deal Maker of the Year at the 2019, 2017 and 2015 Australasian Law Awards. More recently, he was recognised by the International Financial Law Review (IFLR1000) as a “Market Leader” in New Zealand’s mergers & acquisitions and equity capital markets.
John also has deep governance experience. He is the chair of Skellerup Holdings Limited (an NZX-listed manufacturer of industrial and agricultural rubber products) and also sits on the board of, and advisory committees to, a number of private sector businesses. He is a director of Qestral Corporation Limited (a privately owned retirement village developer and operator) and Caspex Limited (the private family-owned New Zealand importer and wholesaler of Honda motorcycles, and marine equipment).
INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Appointed to Board in 2024
Tom is the chair of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee, and a member of the People, Health and Safety Committee.
Tom is Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri and has over thirty years’ experience in numerous primary sector natural resource management and policy roles in New Zealand. Tom has held senior executive positions with Government, Te Ohu Kai Moana, Aotearoa Fisheries Limited, the corporate finance practice of Ernst & Young and Landcorp Farming Limited.
Tom also holds a number of director roles both within and outside of the fishing industry, including Toroa Strategy Limited, the Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Asset Holding Company, Port Nicholson Fisheries (Koura Inc GP) and is Chairman of Commercial Fisheries Services Limited (Fishserve). In addition to local advisory roles with clients including Te Tumu Paeroa and Te Ohu Kai Moana, he has been engaged by the World Bank, NZAid, PNA Office and other organizations to provide fisheries management and commercial fisheries advice in West Africa, the Middle East, and the Pacific.
Tom holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science, Rural Land Valuation registration and a master’s degree in Natural Resource Management.
