MAURO BALZARINI
The managing director of Wellard tells Brad Thompson lifting the standard of animal welfare is not just an ethical issue, it’s also good for business.
Biggest career break?
My biggest career break was to leave Europe and to invest in Australia. When I did that, it was the start of creating Wellard as we know it now. I think it was a good decision because I see where we are now. The industry where we have invested is attracting a lot of interest, there is a lot of market opportunity. I don’t think I would have achieved what I have if I had stayed in Europe. Describe your leadership style. What I do as a leader of this company is really try to create a team of people around me and to empower the team so they participate in decision-making. They don’t necessarily make the decision but it is good that we work as a team, which also means a lot of mobility. I tend to travel with a lot of people when I go to places where we do business because it allows them to interact with customers and understand the countries we are operating in.
Most memorable executive experience?
The decision to build what is now the Ocean Drover (the world’s biggest purpose-built livestock-carrying vessel). When we took that decision in 2000 the industry was very different. There were old ships, converted ships. I came up with the idea of spending, in those days I think it was $40 million, on a new vessel, 23,000sqm. Even my father was sceptical about that. Pushing the decision through was hard but it changed our company and the industry because after that more new vessels were built. People might find it surprising I nominate that given what happened to the vessel recently (a fire which injured a crewman). However, she has recorded 142 successful voyages since her launch and I have no doubt will record another 142 successful voyages in the future once the crew accommodation area is repaired.
Your first or most unusual job?
I was a stockman on one of our vessels in 1995. I came to Australia with my father and he said if you really want to understand how this thing works, you jump on board. I was the stockman for one voyage from Fremantle to Egypt, so that is probably the most unusual work I have done.
More unusual than your career in professional motorcycle racing?
That was motocross and not unusual for me because it was my passion. I raced professionally for three or four years. It was not something I thought of as a job and when it became a job I quit. I still ride and sponsor a team. It is a passion I will always have.
Best way to improve productivity?
The biggest single problem we have as a company is red tape, green tape as well. We have a division of our business where we employ more people looking after paperwork than actually doing the job. You have this inability to extract the maximum potential from people and the business because of red tape. It is one of the biggest problems for productivity in Australia.
Do you use social media? If so, how?
Not vey much. I am a bit old-fashioned. I like to sit in front of people and talk to them and see their reactions. I also travel a lot and rather than looking at reports or social media about the Vietnam market, for example, I’ll go to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and see things for myself and understand much better.
What do you do in your spare time?
The list is so long but at the moment with a young family a lot of time is devoted to them. When I do have spare time I try to keep fit. Coming from being a professional sportsman it sort of sticks in your mind that you want to be fit, you want to be fast. I still do a lot of sport. I still ride motocross bikes, I ski, I do mountain biking, horse riding. But since the children came a lot of time is devoted to building the family, which is very important for us.
Last book you read?
The last book I read was on the life of Giacomo Agostini, the most successful motorcycle racer ever and he is from near my city in Italy.
Favourite holiday destination?
My passion is for the mountains because they are where I come from. The place I like to spend time is Queenstown (New Zealand). In Australia there are some beautiful places and the one I probably prefer is the Kimberley.
What was your worst investment?
There has been a few but I can’t name one. I don’t have regrets, sometimes you have to make mistakes before you do it right. My father said that when you make decisions as long as the majority are right you can live with the bad ones. We have made mistakes, but not many.
What are the big challenges facing Wellard and other Australian agribusinesses?
I see more opportunity than challenges. I think the biggest challenge for this industry is to embrace the animal welfare issue very, very firmly. We have done such a good job so far with the introduction of the Export Supply Chain Assurance System and regulation on the transport of animals, but we need to keep working on that. There is no doubt that for live exporters and for farmers in general going forward the public will want to have more transparency on how you treat your animals.
