Craig Norgate

Michael Craig Norgate (14 April 1965 – 7 July 2015) was a New Zealand accountant and business leader in agricultural processing, marketing and related areas. He had a career as chief executive officer (CEO) of dairy companies Kiwi Co-operative Dairies and Fonterra Co-operative Group, before consolidating the rural servicing industry through PGG Wrightson. His attempt to drive similar changes in the meat industry coincided with the advent of the global financial crisis and resulted in significant losses both for PGG Wrightson and his own private equity company.

Norgate was born in Hawera in 1965. He received his tertiary education at Massey University. His work life started when he took up a management role with the Department of Maori Affairs at age 21.

Norgate had 15 years experience as a leader in the New Zealand dairy industry. He became GM of Kiwi Co-operative Dairies Ltd in 1991 and CEO at the age of 29 in 1994. In his time at the helm, Kiwi grew from a turnover of $285 million to $4.4b. In 1996 Kiwi Co-op took control of Mainland Products with a 66% share and lifted that share to 83% in a merger with Otago Co-op in 1998. Kiwi Co-op merged with New Zealand Dairy Group to form Fonterra, one of New Zealand's largest companies, in 2001 and Norgate was chosen as inaugural CEO of Fonterra for two years. He was New Zealand's first CEO on a million dollar salary. Fonterra bought the remaining 17 percent of Mainland from the McConnon family.

Norgate's two-year contract with Fonterra was not renewed in 2003 and a few weeks later in August he and the McConnon family formed Rural Portfolio Investments (RPI), with Norgate as managing director. Norgate was to receive a NZ$500,000 per annum management fee, plus expenses, for five years. In September, RPI bid for shares in Wrightson and built their stake up to 50.01 percent following a hostile takeover in 2004. Wrightson took over the number 3 player Williams & Kettle a few months later and then merged with Pyne Gould Guinness in 2005 to form PGG Wrightson, with RPI's stake at 30 percent. Norgate became deputy chairman of PGG Wrightson in 2006, shortly after it had established NZ Farming Systems Uruguay, and became chairman in 2007.

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