Pictured above: Sir Palle Petersen and Denmark’s ambassador to Australia and New Zealand Pernille Kardel.

Charged with responsibility for leading PGG Wrightson’s wool exports, Sir Palle Petersen has ideal credentials for the role.

Growing up in Denmark, on leaving school Palle joined Danish wool trading company Bloch & Behrens, as he explains.

“After four years in Germany in their small Munich office, Bloch & Behrens sent me to New Zealand on what turned out to be a one-way ticket. That was in 1988. I married Rachel in 1991 and have been here ever since,” he says. 

Several changes have taken place in the meantime.

“When faced with the imminent closure of the company in the late 1990s my initial brief was to wind up the business, though I had other ideas. I was lucky to be given the opportunity to pick up what was left of Bloch & Behrens NZ, in partnership with well-known Ashburton wool merchants the Woodham family. My old boss said it was a waste of time, and don’t bother with it. However, I took great pleasure in working hard to re-establish the relationships we had with customers throughout the world, turn the company around, and prove a few people wrong.

“In 2008 we were sold to PGG Wrightson and became the export arm of this company’s wool brokering division. This is an excellent fit for all parties, giving us the opportunity to bring growers closer to our international customers and vice versa,” he says.

Managing Bloch & Behrens NZ encompasses several challenges.

“Making a profit, managing risk and balancing the need to pay growers the best return we can, while also achieving the best possible market price, certainly makes life interesting.

“On the way through there have been plenty of highlights. Introducing the Wool Integrity brand is definitely one, taking us beyond being simply a commodity trader. 

“Establishing ourselves with some niche type businesses has also been rewarding. Creating a market for Certified Organic New Zealand crossbred wool is part of that. Having built a network of loyal organic growers, and establishing a close partnership with one of our key customers, we are now paying these growers around double the price for their organic crossbred wool that conventional growers earn. These growers are passionate about the impact their farming has on their land and their families. Organic farming is no easy road: we are hugely proud to support such committed farmers,” he says.

Outside work Palle has been Denmark’s Christchurch-based Honorary Consul since 2012, a role that involves assisting any Danish citizens in the South Island who require help.

“I’ve organised repatriation of the bodies of Danish people who have died here, though mostly it involves replacing lost passports or minor translations. We did have one young Dane hunting on the West Coast who shot a blue duck and ended up in court. He shot the duck when it landed on a lake, and a couple of DOC officers were passing while he was fishing it out. He didn’t realise he had done anything wrong and they didn’t say anything at the time, though a few weeks later he received a message asking him to call in at the DOC Wanaka office. When he turned up, he was summoned to court. It cost him $10,000, which was an expensive mistake,” he says. 

Palle’s service to Denmark was recently recognised with the Ridder of Dannebrog knighthood, which dates back to 1671 and was awarded in ceremony by Denmark’s ambassador to Australia and New Zealand Pernille Kardel.

Palle and Rachel have three adult daughters, Emma, Sophie and Pia (pictured below), and live in an historic homestead on a Price’s Valley lifestyle property, near Little River on Banks Peninsula.