Bakery to shut doors after 75 years

By Peter de Graaf
The only large-scale bakery left in Northland is closing down, bringing to an end 75 jobs and a 75-year era.
Family-owned Northern Bakeries, on Kamo Rd, Whangarei, has been sold to Australasian food giant Goodman Fielder, which plans to shift production to its mega-bakery in Auckland.
However, up to 50 workers could be rehired and the Northland-only brand Kauri Mill will still be baked - albeit in Auckland.
One of the directors, Dennis Davidson, said no date had been set for closure, because the sale was not yet unconditional and the company was still "working things through" with its staff.
However, it could happen "reasonably quickly", he said.
A company statement said production was due to shift south at the beginning of October.
Mr Davidson said closure was hard on the staff, and not exactly how he'd planned to celebrate the company's 75th anniversary.
However, staying afloat as an independent bakery was becoming increasingly difficult. Competition was becoming fiercer and margins tighter.
"We've been doing things smarter and making ourselves more competitive, but the reality is you look at the business and think, `where is this going in the future?'
"We can make a few thousand loaves an hour but, in Auckland, they make 12,000," he said.
Goodman Fielder New Zealand managing director Alison Taylor said the company would hire around two-thirds of Northern Bakeries staff, mostly in sales, distribution and merchandising.
The company would retain depots in Whangarei and Kerikeri, and merchandising jobs in Whangarei, Dargaville, Kaikohe, Kaitaia and Kerikeri.
The rest would be made redundant or offered jobs in other parts of the country.
Founded in 1931 with the merger of Davidson's in Kensington and Wilkinson's in Kamo, the company made Quality Bakers brands Kauri Mill, Molenberg, Nature's Fresh, Country Split and Freya's.
Mr Davidson said Kauri Mill would stay a local brand but the wording on the pack would have to change.
The packs include a tag with the "Northland Naturally" logo and the text "Thank you for supporting Northland jobs".
The Kamo Rd premises will remain the property of the Davidsons, who will lease it to Goodman Fielder to keep the depot going "for at least the next couple of years".
Goodman Fielder was likely to shift the baking equipment to another site.
The Bakers and Pastrycooks Union, which represents about 25 workers at the site, was not commenting yesterday.
Northern Bakeries had a franchise arrangement with Goodman Fielder for several years before the buy-out.
Goodman Fielder is the biggest listed food company in Australasia. New Zealand's richest man, Graeme Hart, is one of its main shareholders.