Graeme Clegg

Finalist - EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 New Zealand

New Image International

As a Masterton sheep farmer, Graeme Clegg was intrigued by the beneficial properties of natural products – particularly colostrum. As the first feed for a newborn lamb, it set the animal up for a healthy life, containing vital antibodies to support resistance to disease.

Having seen his parents and brother succumb to cancer, helping people live better, healthier lives through science and nutrition became a calling.
“I believe people can take control of their health through natural sources, and further, that prevention is better than cure,” he says.

In 1984, Graeme sold the farm and moved to Auckland to back his vision. The result was health and wellness business, New Image International. Scientific research was a major focus, with Graeme developing Alpha Lipids technology to enable the body to more easily absorb nutrients from colostrum.

The business is now a half-billion-dollar company with two divisions: New Image International, which direct sells its own products via a global membership base, and NIG Nutritionals, a high-tech manufacturing business that sells milk formula and dairy products under its own brand, and white-labels.

Throughout, Graeme has approached everything with a strong business mindset, branching out into weight management, skincare and beauty.

“You have to be careful in the research game. New Image is results oriented and does not pursue the impractical development of ideas – its research efforts are focused on commercialisation possibilities,” he says.

Graeme has faced sceptics about his non-traditional approach to medicine, and the 1997 Asian currency crisis, but his ability to pivot has seen him emerge successful. Today an estimated 17 people per second use New Image’s products. The company now employs 350 people, providing quarter of a million more independent distributors, particularly in Asia and Africa, with the means to improve their financial position.

“There’s an entrepreneurial spirit in everyone – it just has to be released. We want to give everyone the opportunity to master the art of living well,” Graeme says.