Entrepreneur
GlaxoSmithKlyne is the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world with a turnover in excess of 50 billion NZD. However, its origins began with the Victorian entrepreneur Joseph Nathan.
Joseph Nathan was born in 1835 to a Jewish tailoring family in London. Hoping to seek his fortune in the Ballarat gold rush Nathan left England for Australia when he was just 18. Realising the limitations of gold mining, he started a retail business, opening a store in Melbourne to serve the burgeoning mining population. However, the store was not a great success and so looking for a new start, he headed to New Zealand. After several years in partnership with his brother-in-law, Nathan established Joseph Nathan and Co in 1873 and the origins of his business empire began.
From general merchant to importer/exporter and public figure, Nathan embraced new products and technology. Not afraid to take risks he was always prepared to seize new opportunities when they presented themselves. By the late 1870s, Nathan's business begun to take off, with retail interests in several stores in the lower North Island. In 1882, when export ship The Dunedin successfully freighted New Zealand's first frozen meat shipment to England, Nathan quickly recognised the potential of refrigerated transport. By 1884, Nathan became chair of the Wellington Meat Export Company and began the regular export of frozen meat to England.
Throughout this period, Nathan was heavily involved in developing trade and commerce in Wellington, in a variety of sectors. In an effort to increase export opportunities and growth he appeared as director for several companies including the Wellington Patent Slip Company, the New Zealand Candle company and the Wellington Woollen Manufacturing Company. In 1881, he was also president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and was heavily involved in the Wellington Harbour Board.
However, it was developments in the dairy industry that finally made Joseph Nathan & Co a financial success. In 1903, the company acquired the Makino Butter Factory in Bunnythorpe near Palmerston North, hoping to capitalise on the dairy export opportunities now existing in the British market. This investment coincided with an increased awareness of the health benefits surrounding dried milk production. The bacteria diseases associated with fresh milk were becoming a growing concern, particularly Tuberculosis. Processing the milk through drying countered the disease making it well suited as a baby food ingredient.
Seeing the opportunity Nathan began manufacturing dried milk for export under the company name Defiance, this later became Glaxo. By implementing a series of clever marketing strategies such as the Glaxo Baby Book, first published in 1908, and gaining the support of infant specialist Dr Truby King, the company finally began to turn a profit.
In 1890, Joseph Nathan returned to London, leaving his son in charge of the New Zealand operations. When he died in 1912, the company was on the verge of major success; however, it would take a few more years to achieve it. The Bunnythorpe factory continued producing dried milk for export for the next seventy years.
