The Keys to Prosperity: centennial history of Southland Frozen Meat Limited - Clive A. Lind

Clive Lind’s background as a journalist makes this one of the most readable corporate histories and commentary on the places and people this important work documents.  

It had its beginnings during a time of difficulty, when a young country and province were struggling to rise to their feet. From the outset, The Southland Frozen Meat and Produce Export Company offered bright prospects for the new settlers of a largely untamed land. But it had an uneasy ‘childhood’ in a period of adversity.

For its first 13 years, the company reeled from difficulty to disaster, in spite of tantalisingly fleeting glimpses of how impressive its potential was to the people of Southland, and how its success promoted the very welfare of the province. Then, in 1895, financial catastrophe struck. Seemingly, it could not continue.

But the rallying call went out through the province. Soon, it became apparent that the company would not only be saved, but that it would grow from strength to strength. That it did as it diversified over several decades into land development and other activities allied with its main object — the killing, processing and freezing of animals for export.

Its momentum increased as it faced increased competition in the 1960s. Then followed a period of heady growth as the company diversified into numerous other avenues throughout the 1970s, taking part in two massive takeover battles in the process. As it enters its second century, there is no stronger Southland company.

This book takes the reader back into history for the company’s formative years and through its period of consolidation. Later, it goes behind the scenes and into the board room to show how some of the largest commercial decisions in the province were made.

It is not a history of statistics. It is the story of a company which, despite numerous problems throughout its 100 years, can stand tall and say proudly that it has always done its best for everybody associated with it.

Craigs 1981 (published by Southland Frozen Meat Limited). Black and white photographs and colour photographs. Tables. Maps. Index and sources. 450 pages. Hardback in brown boards with dust jacket. 

Condition: secondhand hardback in very good condition. Barely marked. Slight scuffing to edges of dust jacket.