Food company Talley’s has admitted in court it cannot quantify how much money it has lost as a result of a series of 1News stories.
Talley’s is suing TVNZ to restore its reputation. The company has claimed it lost income, and its reputation had unfairly suffered after a series of reports alleging health and safety concerns.
TVNZ said in response that it reported truthfully and responsibly in the 2021 and 2022 stories. Talley’s said there were six reports which unfairly did damage to its business.
Today, TVNZ's lawyer Davey Salmon suggested those reports had benefited the business.
Talley’s Group chief financial officer Greg Kingston said after TVNZ’s stories, “those were the days where our lives were hell at Talley’s”.
“Our staff were being heckled at the petrol station on their way home from work, we were all flat out responding to customer feedback, queries.”
Talley’s is not suing for damages, but it has to prove it suffered financial losses to win its defamation case.
Kingston outlined some claimed losses, including having to spend more money on recruiting staff.
“There was a notable shortage of staff wanting to work for Talley’s at the time,” he said.
Kingston said sales of Talley’s branded products fell, and money had to be spent reviewing its health and safety practices. He also said senior staff spent too much time and energy dealing with TVNZ’s reports, which deflected them from working on productivity and profit.
But as Talley’s was also dealing with Covid-19, he couldn’t single out an overall cost from TVNZ’s coverage.
“It is not possible to identify the financial data or to quantify the financial loss that was caused.”
He also said Talley’s was doing well in the market, and was “outperforming” industry peers at the time, such as “other New Zealand meat and seafood companies despite the TVNZ coverage and Covid-19 impacts”.
He was asked if TVNZ’s reports could have led to improvements, as they prompted WorkSafe to check health and safety practices.
"I'd agree with that," he said.
It was also put to him that Talley’s reputation was in question before the reporting.
Salmon asked: “You agree there was an existing reputation for having health and safety issues?”
“Yes, I’m aware there was something of a reputation,” Kingston replied.
Kingston insisted Talley’s was a family-owned business which cared about its workers.
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