Dairy Group report lays it out in black and white

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON agricultural editor

New Zealand Dairy Group, the standout industry leader for annual report presentation, has set a new benchmark - for plainness - with its first offering of the 21st century.

The report was always going to be controversial for its first-time inclusion of the Dairy Board accounts, lamented by some as a sign that the marketer - historically the titular industry head - is now a subsidiary of the giant, Waikato-based manufacturing cooperative.

Dairy Group, which holds 58 per cent of the board shares, said it had to consolidate the board's accounts into its own because its greater than 50 per cent ownership required it by law to treat the board as a subsidiary.

But in an industry so used to hunting for meaning from the cryptic or taking significance from the simple, some saw the move as a forerunner to a full takeover.

With that backdrop, the report's stark style is also cause for close analysis.

Dairy Farmers of NZ chairman Charlie Pedersen said Dairy Group had a long tradition of providing clear and well-presented reports, and he would applaud the company if its plain effort was meant to suggest to farmers that they look at the figures and take notice of them.

Whatever the reason for the change, it would "leave people wondering what the subtle message is," he said, adding with certainty, "There will be one."

In contrast to previous colourful, photograph-filled reports, the latest effort is simplicity itself.

Only one of the 62 pages of austere black- or blue-on-white text and figures is relieved by a photograph, and that is just a small headshot of chairman Henry Van Der Heyden.

In another departure, Mr Van Der Heyden's name is the only one to appear at the foot of a review of the 1999-2000 year.

Chief executive Graeme Milne's monicker is notable for its omission.

Like other senior executives, he is listed only in the directory at the back of the report.

The pale blue cover has a repeating list of 57 products the company makes, and everything is held together with a wire ringbinder.

The company appears determined not to have the report come unstuck the way it did the year then-chairman John Storey's message fell unread from it.

A company spokesman said the report had been "dressed down."

He described it as a no-nonsense document which, because of the Dairy Board accounts, contained twice the usual number of financial pages.

With the usual number of divisional reports and photographs, it would have been more than 100 pages. The company did consider producing two volumes, but opted for the "significantly cheaper" approach.