www.milmeq.com

The Milmeq Story

Milmeq - Our Story

2 3

In the beginning

Milmeq’s story starts long before our operations began in 1952 under the banner of Refrigeration Engineering. In fact, our story starts in Britain in the 1800s.

The Industrial Revolution presented Britain with profound social change, including a rapidly expanding urban population. New lands

were sought and settled to feed the growing masses; New Zealand was one of these.

With its remote location, lush fertile land, crystal clear water and sparse population, New Zealand was perfect for pastoral stocks and became a crucial supplier of meat to fuel the workers of the Industrial Revolution.

“It is difficult to realise that only about thirty-five years have elapsed since one of the most important of the world’s industries was inaugurated, resulting in the enormous and increasing trade of the present day. And yet the whole of this great industry, and to a very great extent the general prosperity and advancement of New Zealand, hangs on the slender piston rod of a refrigerating machine.”

The Frozen Meat Industry of New Zealand – M A ElliotNZ Journal of Science and Technology: May 1918

“to a very great extent the general prosperity and advancement of New Zealand, hangs on the slender piston rod of a refrigerating machine.”

Milmeq - Our Story

4 5

The new land was considered a paradise in the Pacific, offering settlers the opportunity to build a new life for themselves. New migrants were surrounded by breathtaking beauty but were also presented with very real hardships.

New Zealand was isolated and had a variable climate – from subtropical in the far north to temperate climates in the south and severe alpine conditions

in the mountainous areas – these challenges fostered a unique culture with the new settlers.

Such isolation required a can-do attitude and an innovative approach to daily tasks. It was said that New Zealand settlers could create or fix anything with a bit of number eight wire. This mentality has been passed down through generations and is known today as the Kiwi way.

It was said that New Zealand settlers could create or fix anything with a bit of number eight wire. This mentality has been passed down through generations and is known today as the Kiwi way.

Milmeq - Our Story

6 7

As demand for New Zealand products grew, so did the need for refrigeration to transport these products to offshore markets.

In 1952 we commenced operations as Refrigeration Engineering, providing services to meet that growing need.

We have always had the ethos that it is people that make the business, and this can be seen from the very beginnings of the company. Founder William Goodfellow contemplated entering the refrigeration industry for some time, but did not have the right person to run such a business. When he heard UK

company Lightfoot Refrigeration’s top overseas agent William Engle was immigrating to New Zealand, William Goodfellow met him at the port on his arrival and eventually gave him the mandate to create a refrigeration business.

Refrigeration Engineering was a proud, family business and quickly gained a reputation for innovation and a solutions-focus. Such early solutions included design and manufacture of evaporators for blast freezing meat, which provided significant improvements in efficiency and product quality.

We have always had the ethos that it is people that make the business.

Our company’s foundationBy the mid-1900s, primary production was firmly established as the backbone of the New Zealand economy.

Milmeq - Our Story

8 9

Our solutions-focus and can-do approach has seen us pioneer a number of new technologies, many of which have gone on to become industry standards.

We pioneered inverted lamb processing, and in the 1970s and 1980s we led the New Zealand sheep industry’s change from the conventional to the inverted system. Today the inverted system is recognised worldwide as resulting in superior food hygiene and reduced contamination as well as reductions in hard manual labour.

We developed plate freezing technology to extend the shelf life of meat product being exported long distances. We have since gone one to build the world’s largest plate freezers which are used across Australasia and are becoming popular in Europe.

Our chilling and freezing retention tunnels were the first of their kind; now they are a global standard that is being copied by our competitors.

Our solutions-focus and can-do approach has seen us pioneer a number of new technologies, many of which have gone on to become industry standards.

Through the yearsThe agriculture sector continues to be a significant contributor to New Zealand’s export income and for more than 60 years our company has been a support vehicle to achieve this.

Milmeq - Our Story

10 11

At every stage, our success has been driven by the people within the business – we have always had the best people, but moreover the best people with the right attitude.

This focus on people has extended beyond our own staff, clients and suppliers to those in the wider community. Our company has been

built on a philosophy of philanthropy and giving to charities and community groups.

We have continued to look outward, diversifying our service offering and expanding our markets. Over our long history we have had many acquisitions and steady growth, and in 2011 our company was renamed as Milmeq.

At every stage, our success has been driven by the people within the business – we have always had the best people, but moreover the best people with the right attitude.

Milmeq - Our Story

12 13

Our pioneering spirit and Kiwi ingenuity has enabled us to become industry leaders in a global market.

We continue to develop new solutions to the challenges presented within primary production, such as the Milmeq fully automated stock transfer system (MFAST) which introduces automation into the sorting, storage and retrieval of chilled and frozen product.

Our reputation for innovative thinking and delivery of top quality, reliable systems has seen us become a multi award winning company. We innovate

daily, with processes and support systems that are recognised as world leading.

As we develop, people continue to be at the heart of our business. From experienced senior staff to graduates and apprentices, the sharing of knowledge and continuous growth of our people is a core focus for Milmeq.

Looking after people is always a priority and our commitment to health and safety goes beyond maintaining the highest standards within our own workplace, with every system we develop actively designed to keep our clients safe as well.

Our reputation for innovative thinking and delivery of top quality, reliable systems has seen us become a multi award winning company.

Today and beyondToday Milmeq specialises in providing a complete design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance service for primary food processing operations, including greenfield developments around the world.

Milmeq - Our Story

14 15

The Milmeq story is built on four core pillars:

PeopleHaving the best people with the right attitude is the

driving force behind our success.

PlaceAll of our solutions are proudly designed and

manufactured in New Zealand, the small nation leading the world in primary food production.

InnovationDaily innovation is at the heart of what we do,

developing unique custom solutions to help our clients achieve superior levels of performance.

QualityEvery component of every system we produce is crafted to the highest quality and backed by an

industry-leading warranty.

A proud family business, we come from a strong culture of innovation and dedication to providing quality solutions to our clients. Milmeq is proudly a block in the foundation of the New Zealand economy, but our story is, and always has been, about the people.

Join us as we continue to lead the way in engineering for the future.

Winner Excellence in Innovation

Supreme Winner Best of the BestWinner Excellence in Exporting

www.milmeq.com