Fonterra liquidates Kiwi business established to export fresh milk to China

Fonterra went to court after being left out of pocket. Photo / Supplied

Fonterra has gone to the High Court to liquidate the New Zealand arm of an Australian company marketing fresh food to Chinese millennials.

The liquidator’s first report into locally incorporated James Tyler (NZ) showed that the dairy giant is owed money for fresh milk sales.

But didn’t say how much.

The dairy co-operative headed to the High Court at Auckland on February 24 to get insolvency specialist Thomas Rodewald appointed as liquidator, he said in his first report.

Bondi’s James Hutchison is James Tyler (NZ)’s sole company director, running the food wholesaling business only established three years ago.

Fonterra supplied the company with products but was left out of pocket.

“The company was set up as a vehicle for product to be exported. It had no employees, all work preparing documentation was completed in China.

“The petitioning creditor worked with the James Tyler China team and sent various trial shipments. Eventually, two shipments were sent to China, but the product did not sell. Payment was never received for the product so Fonterra Brands (New Zealand) petitioned the court to place the company into liquidation,” Rodewald wrote.

James Tyler Australia says it is a full-service logistics and distribution business which gets fresh food to China.

It moves products direct to Chinese tables fast, fresh and hassle-free, the Australian business says of work with exporters.

“We have distribution agreements will major Chinese fresh food platforms who target millennial and gen z consumers - the driving force behind the boom in quality imported fresh food,” the Australian site says.

Woolworths and A2 Milk are just some of the companies it has worked with.

James Tyler says China has 350 million millennials, born between 1981 and 1995, accounting for around 25 per cent of that country’s population.

Further, it has 201 million Gen Z generation, born in the late 1990s to 2010, comprising 15 per cent of the population.

“Our product procurement team has a deep understanding of what Chinese consumers want, and works directly with growers, fishers and fast-moving consumer goods brands to bridge the gap between the ‘old western world’ and the ‘new China world,” the Australian business says.

James Tyler engages directly with ‘new China’, communicating in a language they understand and a style they love, the business said, emphasising online buying via mobile phones.

The liquidator said Fonterra wasn’t the only creditor of the Kiwi arm of the business.

Oji Fibre Solutions (NZ) of Levin is another one. That business makes pulp, paper and wood-fibre-based packaging.

How much of a deficit there will be for James Tyler (NZ) once Rodewald’s work is completed remains uncertain.

But unsecured creditors are estimated to be owed $34,400. No assets appear to potentially offset claims. Preferential creditors are unknown at this time.

“The liquidator has been advised that the company had no assets as at the date of the liquidation,” the report says.

Nor is there a clear paper trail.

“To date, the liquidator has sent notices to the company’s officers and pursuant to section 261 of the act requested the delivery of the company’s books, records and legal files. We have been advised there are no records. It appears an IRD number was applied for, but it is unknown if the application was completed. No bank account has been found,” Rodewald said.

The company’s registered office is in Auckland’s St Johns.

A Fonterra spokeswoman said today: “The debt with James Tyler arose in 2021 relating to the supply fresh milk. Numerous efforts were made to recover the debt which were unsuccessful. Fonterra Brands NZ applied for liquidation which was not opposed and, because the debt was not paid prior to the matter being called, an order for liquidation was made by the court.”