This year’s cull of 150,000 cows in response to Mycoplasma bovis is likely to mean good news for the Lowe family, New Zealand’s largest producer and exporter of hides, skins and rendering materials.
Andy Lowe is managing director of the Lowe Corporation, which was founded by his father, Graeme Lowe, in 1964.
He did not respond to requests for an interview but the company has a proud and well documented history in the New Zealand meat and by-products industry. Andy joined the board of Lowe Corporation in 2003 and took over as managing director in 2008.
A keen conservationist, he was the driving force behind the 2500ha Cape Sanctuary wildlife restoration project on the Cape Kidnappers Peninsula.
He has also been behind plans to develop Ocean Beach and the joint venture behind the Porters Boutique Hotel development in the heart of Havelock North, which opened at the end of 2016.
The Lowe family name is well-known in Hawke’s Bay and in the meat industry. Graeme Lowe was an industry pioneer who eventually turned a single butcher’s shop into New Zealand’s largest processor and exporter of hides, skins and rendering material. He died in 2012, shortly after being inducted into the Business Hall of Fame.
His legacy lives on through the Graeme Lowe Stand at McLean Park in Napier and through the Lowe Corporation’s sponsorship of the local rescue helicopter, as well as numerous other philanthropic activities.
The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter Service is a charitable trust established to provide a dedicated rescue helicopter service to the Hawkes Bay region.
The company has plants throughout the North Island, as well as a hub in Christchurch, and under Andy’s management it acquired a 50% stake in Hawke’s Bay Protein, which exports high-quality meal to pet food manufacturers.