https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objec...

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12329211

Covid 19 coronavirus: Synlait boss sees 'flight to trust' while juggling new challenges at level 3

Excerpts;
So far, Synlait Milk hasn't taken an operational hit from covid-19, though not without "a heck of a lot of effort," says chief executive Leon Clement.

There have been no cases of covid-19 at Synlait.

Flight to 'trust'

"Some of the more important strategic opportunities still remain in our frame," he said.
The company has a manufacturing and supply agreement with A2 Milk, which holds 17.4 percent of Synlait, its second-biggest shareholder behind China-based Bright Dairy, with 39 percent.
Clement says covid-19 has created an opportunity for New Zealand to "reset" the export model.
"We have a chance to look at how the world and consumer behaviour might change around this and, if anything, I think we will see a flight to trusted goods that potentially have a link to sustainability or environmental thinking," he said.
"A lot of those trends play to where the primary sector has been heading and where Synlait's sweet spots are," he said.
He noted New Zealand had a really coordinated approach to marketing tourism and New Zealand offshore, something the primary sector could replicate.
"You can't let a good crisis go to waste. You have to both manage risk and plan for the opportunities that emerge out of it," he said.