Taylor Preston Ltd is a family-owned meat processing and export company based in Ngauranga Gorge, Wellington, with a history stretching back to 1904. The company was formally established in 1991 when the Taylor, Preston and Grace families joined forces to purchase the WELLPRO Abattoir, bringing together decades of farming, butchering and business expertise from three pioneering New Zealand families.
Today, Taylor Preston operates a multi-species processing plant handling around 1,500,000 head of sheep, lambs, goats, calves and beef annually, making it one of the largest 100% New Zealand owned, privately held meat processors in the country. The company is Halal certified and fully EU and USDA licensed for the export of sheep, lambs, goats, calves and beef, supplying grass-fed New Zealand beef and lamb to major international food companies, retailers and restaurant chains including Meijer, Sprouts, Metro, Burger & Lobster, Carrefour, Rema 1000, Migros and Costco.
The business operates under several brands, including Taylor Preston, Natural Farm, Taylored Foods and Rocket. Natural Farm, launched in 1999, represents the finest of the company's chilled and frozen cuts and is limited to one approved importer per country. Taylor Preston is led by a governance team including Chairman Craig Hickson, with Ana Ward, Rod Preston and Willem Sandberg as Directors, and a management team headed by CEO Simon Gatenby and CFO Bruce Shelley.
Wholly New Zealand owned and operated, Taylor Preston employs over 650 people in Wellington and describes itself as a "Goldilocks company" — big enough to handle large bulk orders, yet small enough to offer personal, agile service.
Taylor Preston Ltd is a family-owned meat processing and export company based in Ngauranga Gorge, Wellington, carrying forward more than 120 years of New Zealand grass-fed beef and lamb tradition. The company's story weaves together three pioneering families — Taylor, Preston and Grace — whose individual histories in farming, butchery and business eventually converged into the company operating today.
The roots of Taylor Preston trace back to 1881, when Andrew Duncan's sons John and Andrew purchased Otairi Station from local Māori iwi, laying the foundation for generations of farming in Hunterville. In 1904, Arthur Edward Preston, an English butcher from Liverpool, opened Preston's Master Butchers on Tory Street in Wellington, a business that grew rapidly to seven shops, two factories and a fleet of horse-drawn carts. The Duncan family's influence on the New Zealand meat industry deepened in 1922, when Thomas Andrew Duncan became a founding member of the New Zealand Meat Producers Board, later serving as its chairman for nearly a decade spanning most of WWII — a period that included personally gifting 200 prime bullock carcasses to war-rationed London.
The families' paths continued through the 20th century: Christopher Grace took over supervision of Otairi Station in 1962 at just 21 years old, continuing for 25 years, while the Preston family established Hopper St Meat Processors in 1978. In 1987, Christopher Grace partnered with the Wellington City Council Abattoir (WELLPRO) to build what Trade Minister Mike Moore and Wellington Mayor Jim Belich called "the most modern and cost-effective export line in the world," constructed at the bottom of the Ngauranga Gorge quarry in just six months.
In 1991, Keith Taylor, Rod Preston and Christopher Grace joined forces to purchase the WELLPRO Abattoir, officially establishing Taylor Preston Ltd. Each brought a distinct strength: Keith's sharp business management, Christopher's farming and livestock expertise, and Rod's knowledge of local retail and wholesale meat trading. That combination has carried the company from a single processing plant into a leading New Zealand meat processor and exporter.
Since 1991, Taylor Preston has continued to expand. In 1996, Christopher Grace purchased the Te Kumu block outright following a shareholder auction of the original Otairi Station. In 1999, the company launched its Natural Farm brand, representing its finest chilled and frozen cuts and made available exclusively through one approved importer per country. In 2005, Taylor Preston co-founded NZ Direct in France with Jean-Michel Nagard, to promote and distribute premium New Zealand lamb throughout the country. The company also became a shareholder and key supplier to Pasture Petfoods NZ Ltd in 2011, and has continued investing in its Wellington plant, including a beef boning room upgrade with a Marel system in 2016 and a freezer expansion with a Dematic Multi Shuttle Buffer System in 2022.
Today, Taylor Preston's multi-species plant processes around 1,500,000 head of sheep, lambs, goats, calves and beef each year, making it one of the largest 100% New Zealand owned, privately held meat processors in the country. The company is Halal certified and fully EU and USDA licensed for export, supplying grass-fed New Zealand beef and lamb to major international names including Meijer, Sprouts, Metro, Burger & Lobster, Carrefour, Rema 1000, Migros and Costco.
Taylor Preston employs more than 650 people in Wellington, and describes itself as a "Goldilocks company" — large enough to handle bulk orders, yet small enough to deliver personal, agile service. The company is governed by Chairman Craig Hickson alongside Directors Ana Ward, Rod Preston and Willem Sandberg, with day-to-day leadership from CEO Simon Gatenby and CFO Bruce Shelley.