David Bortolussi, CEO of The a2 Milk Company, tells us how the premium dairy pioneer has put the global pandemic in the rearview and is aiming for a $2 billion sales target. He shares the inside story of coming back from "rapid decline" to share price gains.

Find out why David isn’t worried about declining Chinese birth rates, and how the company is shifting its strategy towards e-commerce. David shares a2’s goal to reach profitability in the US by 2027, helped along by the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, and the challenges of getting traction in India. How did a2 use the My Little Pony brand to blow up on Chinese social network RedNote? How did it become the first-ever dairy partner of the Australian Open? And are plant-based milks actually a threat to dairy? 

Plus, with a strong position in the global infant formula market, learn why David now believes "senior nutrition" for the over-60s is the next big opportunity. 

For more or to watch on YouTube—check out http://linktr.ee/sharedlunch

Shared Lunch is brought to you by Sharesies Australia Limited (ABN 94 648 811 830; AFSL 529893) in Australia and Sharesies Limited (NZ) in New Zealand. It is not financial advice. Information provided is general only and current at the time it’s provided, and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. We do not provide recommendations and you should always read the disclosure documents available from the product issuer before making a financial decision. Our disclosure documents and terms and conditions—including a Target Market Determination and IDPS Guide for Sharesies Australian customers—can be found on our relevant Australian or NZ website.

Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. If you require financial advice, you should consider speaking with a qualified financial advisor. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.

Appearance on Shared Lunch is not an endorsement by Sharesies of the views of the presenters, guests, or the entities they represent. Their views are their own.

David Bortolussi, CEO of The a2 Milk Company, tells us how the premium dairy pioneer has put the global pandemic in the rearview and is aiming for a $2 billion sales target. He shares the inside story of coming back from "rapid decline" to share price gains.
Find out why David isn&rsquo;t worried about declining Chinese birth rates, and how the company is shifting its strategy towards e-commerce. David shares a2&rsquo;s goal to reach profitability in the US by 2027, helped along by the &ldquo;Make America Healthy Again&rdquo; movement, and the challenges of getting traction in India. How did a2 use the My Little Pony brand to blow up on Chinese social network RedNote? How did it become the first-ever dairy partner of the Australian Open? And are plant-based milks actually a threat to dairy?&nbsp;
Plus, with a strong position in the global infant formula market, learn why David now believes "senior nutrition" for the over-60s is the next big opportunity.&nbsp;
For more or to watch on YouTube&mdash;check out <a href="http://linktr.ee/sharedlunch">http://linktr.ee/sharedlunch </a>Shared Lunch is brought to you by Sharesies Australia Limited (ABN 94 648 811 830; AFSL 529893) in Australia and Sharesies Limited (NZ) in New Zealand. It is not financial advice. Information provided is general only and current at the time it&rsquo;s provided, and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. We do not provide recommendations and you should always read the disclosure documents available from the product issuer before making a financial decision. Our disclosure documents and terms and conditions&mdash;including a Target Market Determination and IDPS Guide for Sharesies Australian customers&mdash;can be found on our relevant Australian or NZ website.
Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. If you require financial advice, you should consider speaking with a qualified financial advisor. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.
Appearance on Shared Lunch is not an endorsement by Sharesies of the views of the presenters, guests, or the entities they represent. Their views are their own.

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Looking for actionable business insights all in one place? 
We're here to help you find a way with a curation of the &lsquo;best bits&rsquo; from top business podcasts. 
Save time searching; subscribe to the SME Stream where you can listen to relevant, timely, business-related content today.&nbsp;
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The a2 Milk comeback: Ponies, tennis, and billions

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 57, our guest is The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand.

A typical Kiwi upbringing was a hallmark of young Christopher Luxon’s life. The oldest of three brothers, he grew up in Christchurch and later Auckland, with working parents and a work ethic that was obvious early.

He was a sports mad kid, but it didn’t stop there. Walking home one afternoon he decided to cold call the neighbourhood homes to see if he could sell his services as a window cleaner. A business was born. It’s owner-operator just 14 years old.

He returned to his hometown of Christchurch for his university studies before his corporate career took hold. 

Starting as a management trainee with global consumer goods giant Unilever, it was a company and a career that took him around the world. He worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA before his eventual appointment as President and CEO of Unilever Canada.

In 2011, he returned to New Zealand for a senior executive role at Air New Zealand and a year later he was appointed CEO, a role he held for seven years.

That he walked away from such a spectacular business career is a story in itself. Within four years, and after just three years as a Member of Parliament, he became New Zealand’s 42nd Prime Minister.

In the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Christopher Luxon talks openly with Bruce Cotterill about his short but spectacular rise in New Zealand’s political scene. He is surprisingly open about his successes and failures in government to date and equally forthright about the assembly and operation of a coalition that has held together better than many expected.

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 57, our guest is The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand.
A typical Kiwi upbringing was a hallmark of young Christopher Luxon&rsquo;s life. The oldest of three brothers, he grew up in Christchurch and later Auckland, with working parents and a work ethic that was obvious early.
He was a sports mad kid, but it didn&rsquo;t stop there. Walking home one afternoon he decided to cold call the neighbourhood homes to see if he could sell his services as a window cleaner. A business was born. It&rsquo;s owner-operator just 14 years old.
He returned to his hometown of Christchurch for his university studies before his corporate career took hold.&nbsp;
Starting as a management trainee with global consumer goods giant Unilever, it was a company and a career that took him around the world. He worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA before his eventual appointment as President and CEO of Unilever Canada.
In 2011, he returned to New Zealand for a senior executive role at Air New Zealand and a year later he was appointed CEO, a role he held for seven years.
That he walked away from such a spectacular business career is a story in itself. Within four years, and after just three years as a Member of Parliament, he became New Zealand&rsquo;s 42nd Prime Minister.
In the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, Christopher Luxon talks openly with Bruce Cotterill about his short but spectacular rise in New Zealand&rsquo;s political scene. He is surprisingly open about his successes and failures in government to date and equally forthright about the assembly and operation of a coalition that has held together better than many expected.

Episode 57: The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand

A half-tonne metal “donut” silently floating in a vacuum chamber in Wellington might sound like science fiction. But as you’ll hear in the latest episode of The Business of Tech, it’s very real – and it could reshape New Zealand’s role in the global race for nuclear fusion.

This week, I sit down with BusinessDesk journalist Greg Hurrell to unpack OpenStar’s dramatic new milestone: levitating a superconducting dipole in a near-perfect vacuum and firing superheated plasma around it. 

It’s a key proof point for the Wellington startup’s radically different approach to fusion, one that flips the dominant tokamak design inside out. Instead of surrounding the plasma with giant magnets, OpenStar suspends a powerful magnet in the centre of the chamber and uses Earth-like magnetic fields to confine the plasma.

​Big ambitions, big interest

Greg and I were in the room at Open Star last week as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, Infrastructure minister Chris Bishop, investors, scientists and even a representative from the United Arab Emirates watched the demonstration. 

For a company that has only raised a modest $10 million Series A round, hitting this milestone matters. it shows OpenStar can deliver on ambitious engineering promises, exactly what global venture capital wants to see. The government has granted OpenStar a $35 million loan via the Rural Infrastructure Fund to build a bigger prototype – Tahi.

Shane Jones, Chris Bishop, and Christopher Luxon listen to OpenStar CEO and co-founder Ratu Mataira explain the plasma firing experiment.

Inside-out design

We dig into why this “inside-out” design could be simpler to build and maintain than giant international projects, how New Zealand-grown intellectual property in high‑temperature superconductors and flux pumps gives OpenStar a potential edge, and what comes next with its larger Tahi and Maui machines aimed at real fusion and, eventually, commercial-scale power. 

We also tackle the hard questions: tritium supply, neutron damage to reactor components, and whether a relatively small team in Wellington can compete with well-funded overseas rivals and decades of tokamak momentum.

If you are interested in energy, climate, deeptech or New Zealand’s science system, this episode goes deep on a genuine moonshot as it crosses from lab experiment into serious industrial ambition. 

Streaming on Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to our sponsor 2degrees.

Show notes

OpenStar Plasma Showcase Event - Youtube

OpenStar completes critical step on nuclear fusion path - BusinessDesk

Openstar says $35m Government loan will help it stay in NZ - BusinessDesk

New Zealand fusion startup claims major advance in New Zealand trial - Bloomberg

Nuclear fusion seems hot right now — but how close is fusion power? - CBC

Chinese nuclear fusion reactor pushes plasma past crucial limit: what happens next - Nature

A half-tonne metal &ldquo;donut&rdquo; silently floating in a vacuum chamber in Wellington might sound like science fiction. But as you&rsquo;ll hear in the latest episode of The Business of Tech, it&rsquo;s very real &ndash; and it could reshape New Zealand&rsquo;s role in the global race for nuclear fusion.
This week, I sit down with BusinessDesk journalist <a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/journalist/greg-hurrell">Greg Hurrell</a> to unpack <a href="https://www.openstar.tech/">OpenStar</a>&rsquo;s dramatic new milestone: levitating a superconducting dipole in a near-perfect vacuum and firing superheated plasma around it.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s a key proof point for the Wellington startup&rsquo;s radically different approach to fusion, one that flips the dominant tokamak design inside out. Instead of surrounding the plasma with giant magnets, OpenStar suspends a powerful magnet in the centre of the chamber and uses Earth-like magnetic fields to confine the plasma.
​Big ambitions, big interest
Greg and I were in the room at Open Star last week as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, Infrastructure minister Chris Bishop, investors, scientists and even a representative from the United Arab Emirates watched the demonstration.&nbsp;
For a company that has only raised a modest $10 million Series A round, hitting this milestone matters. it shows OpenStar can deliver on ambitious engineering promises, exactly what global venture capital wants to see. The government has granted OpenStar a $35 million loan via the Rural Infrastructure Fund to build a bigger prototype &ndash; Tahi.
Shane Jones, Chris Bishop, and Christopher Luxon listen to OpenStar CEO and co-founder Ratu Mataira explain the plasma firing experiment.
Inside-out design
We dig into why this &ldquo;inside-out&rdquo; design could be simpler to build and maintain than giant international projects, how New Zealand-grown intellectual property in high‑temperature superconductors and flux pumps gives OpenStar a potential edge, and what comes next with its larger Tahi and Maui machines aimed at real fusion and, eventually, commercial-scale power.&nbsp;
We also tackle the hard questions: tritium supply, neutron damage to reactor components, and whether a relatively small team in Wellington can compete with well-funded overseas rivals and decades of tokamak momentum.
If you are interested in energy, climate, deeptech or New Zealand&rsquo;s science system, this episode goes deep on a genuine moonshot as it crosses from lab experiment into serious industrial ambition.&nbsp;
Streaming on Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to our sponsor 2degrees.
Show notes
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOllOhBMQVQ&amp;t=8180s">OpenStar Plasma Showcase Event</a> - Youtube
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/energy/openstar-completes-critical-step-on-nuclear-fusion-path">OpenStar completes critical step on nuclear fusion path</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/policy/openstar-says-35m-government-loan-will-help-it-stay-in-nz">Openstar says $35m Government loan will help it stay in NZ</a> - BusinessDesk
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-17/nuclear-fusion-startup-claims-major-advance-in-new-zealand-trial?embedded-checkout=true">New Zealand fusion startup claims major advance in New Zealand trial</a> - Bloomberg
<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/fusion-startups-9.7045784">Nuclear fusion seems hot right now &mdash; but how close is fusion power?</a> - CBC
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00063-4">Chinese nuclear fusion reactor pushes plasma past crucial limit: what happens next</a> - Nature

Inside the levitation lab: OpenStar’s quest for energy’s Holy Grail 

The PM ponders Trump’s tariffs and the potential of selling Pāmu. He also discusses the industry kickback against the RMA rural reforms and falling electricity prices. Plus, the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (the artist formerly known as Prince).

The PM ponders Trump&rsquo;s tariffs and the potential of selling Pāmu. He also discusses the industry kickback against the RMA rural reforms and falling electricity prices. Plus, the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (the artist formerly known as Prince).

The a2 Milk comeback: Ponies, tennis, and billions

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