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NZ-Made CNX win big at Nelson’s Premier Business Awards

Nelson-based CNX, a leading IT technology solutions provider, has been named the Mediaworks Medium Business Award winner at the Nelson Pine Industries Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.The awards ceremony, which took place on February 24th, 2023, recognised the outstanding achievements of local businesses across a range of categories.CNX, a New Zealand Made licence holder since 2020, provides cutting-edge technology solutions to businesses across Te Tau Ihu and Aotearoa and has been instrument...

Classic New Zealand Limited

When was it started and why?1969 to produce the world’s softest sheepskins.What is the most unique/exciting aspect of the business?The only New Zealand owned and operated Tannery.What are you most proud of?We take a waste-product of the food supply chain and transform it into something of high quality, value, and comfort. At Classic, we are driven by our responsibility to nature – to honour and respect, protect and sustain – and our desire to enhance the lives of families across the world,...

Smith Attachments (2012) Limited

Smith Floats - who are we?In late 2021, Smith Attachments had the opportunity to begin manufacturing horse floats. Between our 45 years of engineering experience and Susie Amos’s wealth of knowledge and experience with horses, it was decided that we could make the safest, strongest and best manufactured floats on the market. With this, February 2022, saw the beginning of Smith Floats.What is our history?Smith Attachments didn’t just decide over night that we could build floats - our experien...

Be My Guest: Designed for Greatness

In pursuit of a creative outlet while on maternity leave, Amanda Cookson couldn’t find a part time job that suited her skills, nor one that had flexible hours.Deciding that going back to a full time job was not on the cards, she tried to discuss part time, flexible work that suited her set of skills, but came up empty handed.With that, she chose to completely devote her time to her own business, which was once a small, creative retreat from her corporate occupation, but is now a company that h...

Natures Therapeutics - Q&A

When was it started your business and why?Kia ora my name is Gordon. I’m the Founder and CEO of Natures Therapeutics. Our operations commenced August 2020. Based in Whangarei New Zealand, we manufacture a range of health and personal products. Each product contains at least 1 plant extract traditionally used by Māori.Our health products help relieve respiratory, muscular, joint, and skin conditions. Products are natural - a great alternative to the chemical-based options! Final products ...

Tides Out Maps: Mapping out artistic success

While taking a year off from his engineering job, Matt Peacock’s passion for art, coupled with a friend who kept telling him to turn it into a business, led him to found Tides Out Maps. The business sells handcrafted wooden depth maps based on the waterways of New Zealand. Peacock has found his entrepreneurial fulfilling and is especially proud of just how satisfied his customers are with his maps. What the business has to offer The range of the maps is vast, covering all o...

Drying to be the best

Drying Solutions was born out of a struggle to find a device that could dry macadamia nuts. Sensing an opportunity, co-owners Robert and Paulette set their sights on the nut growing industry, and when that venture proved unsuccessful, they turned their sights to the pet food industry.From there, the business, which provides drying solutions for a wide range of food industries, has grown with increased diversification into various products like fruit, leaves, and mussels.It creates energy ef...

Pasta Vera: A taste of Italy in New Zealand

Phil Bennett found his passion for food as a teenager through his friends, who were bakers and chefs. They introduced him to the idea of getting involved in the food industry himself, and with a fondness for Italian cuisine, he teamed up with co-owner Linda Murphy to make high quality, fresh pasta.The owners’ skills complement each other very nicely. Phil excels in product development, engineering, and sales, and Linda is talented at analytics, finance, and her ability to build strong business...

No pain, no gain for innovative desk start-up

Qualified physio Bart de Vries felt he was doing meaningful work, until he realised he was sending people back to the environments that had injured them in the first place.Disheartened, he decided to give up his career to create “the world’s healthiest desks” back in 2015.“I was sick of seeing people return to the environments that were injuring them.“I decided I should look for a better workspace setup but couldn't find one that did what I wanted.”Seven years on, Limber’s space ef...

Authentic Aleppo soap at its finest

In 2017, while thinking of business ideas, Hasan Chahoud’s son asked him: “Baba, why don’t you start the saboon business?” With aleppo soap being a part of Chahoud’s family business in Syria, and soap making being a long-standing part of his family, he jumped at the opportunity.Hasan Aleppo Soap’s roots come from a rich knowledge of making aleppo soap, and the business now crafts a range of natural and authentic aleppo soaps as well as other health products with a focus on quali...

Warmington: the burning desire for improvement

New Zealand-owned and operated Warmington is a one stop shop for fireplace needs.It designs and manufactures a vast range of fireplaces - like wood and gas fires, outdoor fires, and wood burners that are made for New Zealand conditions, with environmentally-friendly options. Warmington also sells other products, including chimneys and flues.Warmington customers can get custom-made fireplaces, crafted just for them, via LEAN manufacturing principles, in smaller manufacturing lead times than other...

Small business continues to suffer at phase three

PRESS RELEASESmall New Zealand businesses are feeling the impact of widespread Covid in the community and reduced foot traffic in city centers, Buy NZ Made says.Executive Director Dane Ambler says more needs to be done to stimulate trade in CBDs across the country."We’ve urged people to shop local since the start of the pandemic, and we are now seeing a significant number of businesses on the edge."In particular our tourism, hospitality and retail sectors need our full support right now."The G...

Pro snowboarder cooks up a storm

When professional snowboarder Robert Mitchell got injured, he turned to his great, great-grandfather’s bone broth recipe.The recipe was brought to New Zealand when his grandfather came to look for gold, and three generations on, worked wonders for Mitchell’s recovery.Mitchell found that he was going to the doctors when he was injured, and he’d always get the usual medication to help his pain.While these were useful, he noted that what he fed himself while he was healing was also incredibly...

Mother and daughter duo blooming greatness

What started as a school project has now turned into a very impressive business that sells New Zealand native mushrooms and kits, along with workshops, to help others grow their own.Mushroomate takes the high-risk of extinction for New Zealand fungi seriously, and raising awareness is its biggest inspiration.Mushroomate co-founder Esperanza Chue Reyes is passionate about New Zealand-grown native mushrooms, and fungal conservation. She’s a food technologist who has experience working at various...

Woodhouse Farm Organics: it's only natural

A five-acre plot in Kairanga, close to Palmerston North, is the site of a thriving horticultural garden, which produces organic and biodynamic raspberries, black currants, boysenberries, and other fresh produce.The food is grown naturally and organically, is GE free, Demeter-certified (the greatest accessible standard), and is grown without using any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, meaning customers can treat themselves to delicious, fresh fruit without any strings (or chemicals) attached.J...

A match made in truffle heaven

Truffiere Croix du Sud, also known as Ohiwa Black Diamond Truffles, have the top-producing truffiere per hectare in New Zealand, and possibly the world.The business is based in Ohiwa Harbour in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.The truffiere was planted and developed by what is now Plant and Food Research, alongside Dr Ian Hall in 1988. The first truffle was uncovered in 1999, and the truffiere has since been documented for producing more Black Perigord truffles per hectare than every other truffiere in...

Family fruit business moving in the ripe direction

Innovative Northland fruit grower Maungatapere Berries is taking New Zealand by storm and has a trophy cabinet to match.It’s been a finalist in awards like the MPI Primary Industries Good Employer Awards 2018 and the Ahuwhenua Trophy, which awards brilliance in New Zealand’s horticultural and pastoral sectors. It won in five categories at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (Northern Region), with quality and sustainability as its most prominent values.It has extensive processes and systems...

Businesses facing a perfect storm after lockdown extension

Small Kiwi businesses are set to bear the brunt of today’s lockdown extension and need local support, Buy NZ Made Executive Director Dane Ambler says."The government has rightly decided to extend the nationwide lockdown, but businesses across the country are facing a perfect storm of a skills shortage, increased shipping costs and delays, and now Covid in the community. Once again, we are reminded of the importance of supporting local businesses."While it’s encouraging to see the government ...

Tukituki grows in popularity

Twelve years ago, entrepreneur Phill Jones started working on his take on the traditional Peruvian Cajón drum.After 50 to 100 prototypes, getting better and better with every attempt, Jones’ persistence paid off, and he came up with a unique take on the ‘drum in a box’.By putting a snare in the Cajón, and getting a “buzzing” that typical Cajóns don’t have, Jones’ exciting new creation is sparking interest in the musical community, and has even been used by the New Zealand Sympho...

More fresh fruit, less sugar

After making a surplus of lemonade at home, and giving some to her neighbours, Marleen Suy, also known as Mrs. Pete, was advised to commercialise the product.Mrs. Pete wanted the product to be completely natural, using fresh and local fruit to help domestic growers. She wanted to create a healthy drink without preservatives, additives, and making less than 5% of a bottle sugar.A lot of the designs and ideas come from Mrs. Pete’s husband, Peter, who watches trends to try and pinpoint the next p...

Envirowool making a difference

During a searing hot day on the job, builder James Carter had an epiphany– he and his colleagues were surrounded by harmful glass fibre, and there had to be a better way.He decided to establish Envirowool Insulation - a sustainable, 100% wool insulation business that helps farmers and growers of wool, making the most of local resources.Envirowool Insulation offers wool insulation for ceilings, walls and windows and has the added bonus of being grown in New Zealand.Making It HappenCar...

Sipper: Delicious sparkling iced tea

Sipper is an exciting new Kiwi beverage brand, home to sparkling iced tea. The iced tea is made with lightly brewed organic tea, a dash of organic apple juice and natural flavour extracts.The 330ml cans are available in three flavours - Earl Grey Lemonade, Black Peach, and Hibiscus & Honeybush.The idea came to Sipper’s founder David Ball while he was taking a break from drinking alcohol.“I started working on Sipper a couple of years ago when I was in between jobs and taking a break off t...

The Damson Collection: World's Best Fruit Liqueur

The Heretaunga Plains in Hawke’s Bay is one of New Zealand’s finest horticulture growing regions, including being home to two damson plum orchards.Fiona Tomlinson, owner of The Damson Collection, creates specialty food products with the fruit, a business that started after she incorporated damsons in another food venture.“I was in Auckland with another business, making macarons. I was keen to make macarons with damson powder and that’s how things began,” says Fiona.“I ended up moving...

Eva Rose NZ: Born to make you feel good

Eva Rose NZ is a new Kiwi fashion brand, creating beautiful linen garments for women with quality natural fabrics.The designs are versatile; there are breastfeeding-friendly options available, making them perfect for pre, during or post-pregnancy.Founder Katie Williams was inspired to create the brand after her sisters' disappointment in the range of breastfeeding clothing available to new mothers.Katie explains, “Two of my sisters had babies and felt the breastfeeding clothing available ...

Sovrano Limoncello: The Vest of NZ

Spanning five generations, Andrea and Marzia Loggia are part of a rich history in liqueur making.The couple based in Kerikeri, emigrated to New Zealand from Italy in 2007, with a mission to create the best and finest Limoncello Liqueur in New Zealand.“We emigrated to New Zealand indefinitely in 2007 from Italy, with the desire to start a limoncello business," says Andrea."We have been making Limoncello and many other liqueurs for generations in my family, and Marzia’s family has been making ...