Dick Hubbard Profile

Just whom am I ?
Well Dick Hubbard is really a country boy . Let me explain. My home town is a country town called Paeroa and for those of you not familiar with the geography of New Zealand it is a farming town of about 5,000 people approximately 120 kilometres southeast of Auckland. The family farm was a dairy farm at a place called Komata which had a country school and a local hall and nothing much else. Paeroa is in the middle of dairy farming country and farmers are essentially self employed business people so I think some of the lessons of the farm helped in my setting up of the cereal business many years later.

However I am jumping the gun! School days were at the local Paeroa College and then at the "grand know it all " age of 18 it was off to Massey University to do a degree in the then new course of Food Technology.  After 5 good university years it was off to the city of Hamilton for my first job which was as a research chemist working on specialised milk powders for the baking trade.

After two years there I got a job of a very if not extremely different sort as project manager for a new tropical fruit processing factory on Niue. My project was to set up a fruit factory processing passionfruit and limes for sale in New Zealand and Australia. Both of these crops grew well there in the Island's thin soils. There were three lessons from the Niue experience for me. First was that of being in a minority culture instead of a majority one. Everyone should experience that. Secondly it was the lessons of self reliance as a result of being in such an isolated location. Thirdly it was about the satisfaction of running an enterprise for the benefit of people where profit making was not the only motivation.

From three happy years on Niue it was back to the big smoke of Auckland for my wife Diana and I which was daunting at first. I got a job as Operations Manager at a New Zealand Company called Tasti Products Ltd. After a while I became Chief Executive up until 1988 which was about when I turned 40!. It was time for some navel gazing!

Then the big jump occurred! In 1988 I left the security of paid employment and set up our (very) fledgling cereal Company. It was called not Hubbard Foods Ltd then but Winner Foods Ltd. Winner it almost certainly was not and the first two years were very much a struggle. In 1989 we made the decision to put the family name on the cereal boxes and to rename the company Hubbard foods Ltd and then the fun ride started and as they say the rest has been history

Our very first product was one called "Fruitful Breakfast " and 20 years later that is still our number one product. Anyway the building up of Hubbards has been a great story and (mostly ) a lot of fun with the odd scary moment as does happen in all businesses.

I have had some interesting diversions along the way and it has not always been about business. In October 2004 I put my hat in the ring to be Mayor of Auckland City. After an "interesting" election campaign I became mayor and that was a very interesting three years indeed and one i have no regrets about doing. Then it was back to the business world which I must say I enjoy if not prefer. However now I am not doing the day to day running of the Company but am Chairman of the company . This gives me time to also do some work in the not of profit or charity sector. And still write items for "Clipboard"

And of Hubbard Foods today. Well I am very proud of it and all the people in it. According to my calculations we make enough cereal for about one million breakfasts a day in New Zealand and Australia. I like to think we have made a difference to New Zealand and will continue to do so.

And that's all about me!

Have a good day!

Dick Hubbard