Te-Puna based Heilala Vanilla is planning to grow its sales by 70 per cent this year - most of it in overseas markets - after securing backing from a group of high-powered investors.
The local vanilla producer has linked up with New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) and Enterprise Angels BOP, in which 12 of its members provided support.
Two of the individual investors include Ross McCallum, who started Kapiti Cheeses and Kapiti Ice-Cream, and Geoff Ross, founder of vodka brand 42 Below and brother of Heilala Vanilla co-owner and director Jennifer Boggiss.
Enterprise Angels BOP, operated from Tauranga, recently became the 13th partner in NZVIF's Seed Co-Investment Fund and the first in Bay of Plenty. NZVIF matches the amount put in by the local venture capital group.
The extra funding for Heilala Vanilla will help drive export sales, particularly in Australia.
"It's all about building a brand," said Mrs Boggiss. "We have done that in New Zealand and made a good start in Australia and United States.
"But it takes time, energy and resources to get penetration and traction in (overseas) markets. Over the past three years we may have under-estimated what was required."
Heilala Vanilla, established in late 2002, has made inroads into the Melbourne retail and food services/restaurant sectors but it wants to go further afield into Sydney and other main centres.
It is appointing a business development manager in Australia, organising a retail distributor in Sydney, and has an arrangement to supply 12 Woolworths' owned Thomas Dux Grocer stores in Melbourne and Sydney.
Heilala Vanilla is also talking with other food manufacturers specialising in ice cream, baking and other products - it already supplies Epicurean Dairy for spreading vanilla syrup with yoghurt and smoothies.
"We've tripled our sales in New Zealand over the past year, and now we are looking at doing the same in Australia," said Mrs Boggiss. "Australia, rather than United States, is our priority mainly because the exchange rate makes it so much easier.
"But there are big vanilla consumers in the US - they know what real vanilla is compared with the essence," she said.
Heilala Vanilla syrup has gone into 200 Williams-Sonoma stores in United States and Canada, including Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles and Madison Avenue in New York.
Another United States gourmet food retail chain, Dean & DeLuca, will also stock Heilala Vanilla sugar from Easter this year.
Heilala Vanilla also intends establishing warehouse facilities on the United States West Coast and in New York, and its US business development manager, Linda McWilliam, will step up to a full-time role.
Processing the vanilla beans grown on the island of Vava'u in Tonga, the Te Puna company makes 100 per cent pure paste, syrup, extract, sugar, ice cream, as well as supplying the dried beans and ground powder.
Last year Heilala Vanilla took delivery of 2.9 tonnes of vanilla beans and this year, following the harvest in July/August, it is working on a record supply of 5-6 tonnes, from its own Vava'u plantation and other Tongan growers. Its first harvest in 2005 netted 45kgs.
"There's still plenty of capacity in Tonga and over the next three to five years we want to bring back 10-15 tonnes (of vanilla beans)," said Mrs Boggiss.
To prepare for that expansion, Heilala Vanilla is finalising the design of a new factory and office at the Newnham Park Horticulture Innovation Centre in Te Puna.
The two-level building will include a kitchen where all the uses of pure vanilla can be shown.
Amongst its many plans, Heilala Vanilla wants to turn its product into a South Pacific brand story and it has established a visitor tourist centre - a traditional fale with walls - at its Tongan plantation.
"We are getting cruise passengers and this all helps build the awareness," said Mrs Boggiss.
Once Heilala Vanilla is truly established in the Australian and United States markets, it will then cast an eye to Japan and Britain.
"We are being a bit more realistic about timing," said Mrs Boggiss. "Researching and entering a new market takes up to a year. I think in terms of sales Japan and the UK will be in the next financial year."