Michael Allpress has established Waiheke Island-based olive oil business. Photo / 123RF
Michael Allpress has established Waiheke Island-based olive oil business. Photo / 123RF
The founder of a pioneering coffee business which he sold to a Japanese-headquartered multinational earlier this year has established a new olive oil business, saying he has a deep passion for the stonefruit.
In April, Allpress Espresso, founded by Michael Allpress, was sold to Japanese beverage giant Asahi for anundisclosed sum, said to be upwards of $50 million, but never revealed.
Now, Allpress has established Waiheke Island-based Allpress Olive Oil and told how passionate he feels about it.
Michael Allpress loves olives. Photo / Fiona Goodall, Getty Images
The new company's website has scant information but displays how Allpress has long held an interest in olives.
"I enjoy nurturing and growing olives almost as much as I appreciate consuming them," he says on the website.
"Allpress Olive Oil are based in Island Bay on beautiful Waiheke Island. Waiheke is located 50km from Auckland's east coast and may seem an unlikely location for an olive grove, but in many ways it is ideal.
"The dry soil conditions combined with the island's unique micro climate have proven to yield award-winning olives, olive oil and of course delicious wines," that site says.
More than 30 years ago, Allpress founded his coffee company with a single standalone coffee cart in Auckland's Victoria Park and expanded its operations to Australia, Japan, Singapore and Britain, supplying more than 1500 tonnes of coffee beans to cafes and restaurants each year.
Allpress now employs 240 staff, about 100 based in New Zealand, and holds a 20 per cent share of the wholesale fresh coffee bean market.
Asahi's acquisition saw the Japanese conglomerate enter New Zealand's multimillion-dollar fresh coffee market for the first time as it looked to grow its portfolio of non-alcoholic drinks brands.
Asahi employs 400 staff in New Zealand and owns drinks brands Long White Vodka, Woodstock, Charlie's and Phoenix Organics, among others.
Branded bottles of Michael Allpress products. Photo / Allpress Olive Oil
Michael Allpress and his business partner, Tony Papas, began mulling the future of the business about two years ago when he turned 60.
Allpress Espresso was put on the market via UBS and received a number of offers both domestically and in Britain. Allpress said they decided on Asahi because they thought it would be "the best custodian of the brand".
At the time of the sale announcement, Allpress said: "When I started this business in Auckland more than 30 years ago, I never could have imagined the amazing journey it would take me on."
Corporate formalities in the olive oil trade are just a few months old.
Companies Office records show Allpress Olive Oil only registered on June 17. Michael Robert Allpress of Korora Rd, Oneroa and his sister Jane Louise Allpress of Birkenhead are its sole shareholders. Michael Allpress is the only director.
Allpress has teamed up with a long-time trusted colleague to run the new venture.
LinkedIn shows Dean Liggins is the general manager of Allpress Olive Groves, only appointed in September after leaving a contract role at Little Bird Organics.
Liggins worked for Allpress for at least nine years before that and was its chief executive from 2017 to 2019, his profile says.
Allpress has given one media interview about the oil venture in a newsletter, saying: "Dean and I realised that we've done this all before [with Allpress Espresso]. We don't have to make it up anymore. We're just applying it to a different product. So things are about to change quite quickly. I've got 600 litres in my garage – I'm not selling it fast enough."
Last month, the Herald reported on how the shareholders of the holding company which sold Allpress Espresso will soon get access to the proceeds of the sale, a liquidator's report shows.
Allpress Espresso was sold to Japanese beverage giant Asahi at the end of April for an undisclosed price.
A liquidator's report issued by Rachel Mason-Thomas of Meltzer Mason on September 23 for Allpress Espresso Holdings showed the company has $106.7 million available for distribution to creditors, of which $102m is cash at the bank.
Once unsecured creditor claims of $5.88m are taken into account the company has an estimated surplus of $100.8m.
The liquidation of the company is a solvent one and is being undertaken because the company has sold its business.
The liquidation is expected be completed within three months.
Mason-Thomas told the Herald she was not sure whether the cash in the bank was entirely comprised of proceeds of the sale as she had not seen the bank statements.
"It is likely that the majority of that is from the sale," the Herald reported in September.
Allpress told the Herald: "We have a lot of work to do before we make any announcements or interviews."
