Business Profiles

Watties invest in pet food plant in revamp in Hastings

Wattie’s has completed a multi-million dollar upgrade of its Hastings pet food manufacturing site, positioning itself for future growth in the petfood industry. The pet food manufacturing facility in Tomoana, Hastings produces one of New Zealand’s leading household cat food brands Chef® as well as its other pet food brands Gourmet®, Champ® and a range of pet food products for...

3,2,1 blast off for Rockit

Rockit Global is using technology and innovations in other sectors such as the kiwifruit sector and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to combat the major growth trajectory of the miniature-sized apple. “The reason we can move like we are is that we look beyond the apple industry. We look at what other FMCG companies are doing, the likes of Heineken,...

Leaders in Automation for food procesing

MHM Automation designs and supplies automated systems for food processing. They understand the challenges processors face and develop solutions to deliver better quality product with improved food safety and reduced reliance on manual labour. The company is recognised as a technology leader, with its equipment installed for some of the world’s most prominent names in dairy and meat processing. For...

CR Automation raises the bar in post-harvest performance

CR Automation is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with as a post-harvest engineering specialist. Founded in 2002 as an automation contracting company CR Automation has a track record of supporting local and international businesses in post-harvest produce handling, water & waste water, food & beverage, and manufacturing. CR Automation director Peter Richards says in 2016 CR expanded into...

Think smart, Work Smart

Think Smarter, Work Smarter is the call to arms at Kinetic Electrical and when it came to its role on the new Rockit post-harvest facility, this proved to be the case. Kinetic Electrical managing director Darren Bambry went to the front line of the project to ensure the tight deadlines were met, stepping up as the lead electrical design and...

The right structure for project success

At Red Steel, it’s all about creating efficiencies to ensure deadlines and budgets are met. Since 2002 Red Steel managing director Bob Hawley and his team have honed their processes and focussed on increasing production from their Pandora workshop. Red Steel has developed streamlined processes within its supply chain, introduced smart software to track all projects, and invested in equipment...

Delivering the best, time and again

Constant improvement and challenging the status quo is sage advice that siblings Barbara Brittin and Richard Kinnear took from their father Gordon, a pioneer in the development of refrigerated food storage facilities in Hawke’s Bay. Gordon never went looking for accolades and he wasn’t one to conform but instead, he always looked for how things could be done better. He...

Big enough to deliver – small enough to care

Agnew Transport owner Willie Agnew understands his customers’ needs like no other. Willie started his career as a fruit and vegetable farmer and to this day is still involved in the industry as an orchard owner. “Coming from this background, I needed trucks to come and cart my own produce. I understand the importance of having a reliable carrier who...

Rockit gets lift off with ECR Equipment

ECR Equipment does the heavy lifting for many of Hawke’s Bay’s leading horticulture businesses, supplying the likes of Rockit Global with lithium ion battery powered forklifts. ECR is locally Hawke’s Bay owned and operated offering a one- stop shop when it comes to hire, leasing and sales of forklifts, lift trucks and tractors for orchard, packhouse and vineyard work. ECR...

Mission underway for Apollo Projects

Hot off the completion of a $21 million indoor sport facility in Rolleston, Apollo Projects are simultaneously building two of Hawke’s Bay’s most prominent sport facilities. Apollo’s Hawke’s Bay Regional manager Steve Bailey said the team is in the early stages of the multi-million dollar Olympic-sized indoor swimming complex at Mitre 10 Park in Hastings and is about to start preparation of the...