Hawke's Bay Business Awards: Innovation finalists

High achievers in the local business community have been recognised with the announcement of the 35 finalists in the Westpac Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.
Each week, Hawke's Bay Today will profile the finalists.
Today we look at four who have made the finals in the Hawke's Bay Regional Council/Venture Hawke's Bay Business Innovation Award, which called for businesses to demonstrate innovation across the environmental elements of land, water, climate and people.
Napier firm takes new  approach in sludge trial
Reaman Industries is leading the way with wastewater treatment solutions, and has done since  it started in 1980.
The Onekawa company has built and operated 12 conventional wastewater treatment plants in New Zealand and the South Pacific.
While building the conventional plants, principal Phil Read became aware of an alternative aerobic granular sludge process being developed in the northern hemisphere.
After  consultation with international experts, a trial plant was built in 2008 and attached to the Rotorua City wastewater treatment plant. The plant has operated on a trial basis since last year,  monitored remotely from Reaman's Napier office.
The company is now in a collaborative agreement with the Dutch conglomerate DHV and Advanced Water Management Centre of the University of Queensland, to achieve commercial viability of the Rotorua plant. Reaman and the University of Queensland have committed funding for the next two years to complete the plant's development while DHV  has committed its technical expertise.
Firm's ginkgo reputation grows with abundance
Nature's Green, of Napier, is producing some of the highest quality ginkgo trees in the world.
 Ginkgo biloba, a natural herb, is extracted from the tree. The herb assists in a variety of conditions and is popular in China.
With support from TechNZ and Industry NZ (now New Zealand Trade and Enterprise) investigations, research and trials began in 1997.
The first commercial planting was in 2005, with one grower. There are now 30 contracted growers in Hawke's Bay, Marlborough and Bay of Plenty, with 650,000 trees planted.
Nature's Green controls the full supply chain in NZ, from the seeds, nursery, growers, processing and the markets.
The tree has no known pest in New Zealand, is hardy and impervious to hail and frost.
It produced a return on investment in just 18 months after planting and at full production after four years.
Nature's Green said it paid the grower one of the highest returns for any land-based product in New Zealand.
Nature's Green is a charitable company and its profits are used to assist disabled people to achieve a better quality of life and employment opportunities.
Steady growth reported
Waipukurau's Agri-lab is the leading supplier of animal placenta products worldwide and a key supplier of raw ingredients and pharmaceutical and medical biomaterials.
The company specialises in placenta, glands, membranes, tendons, eyes, brains, blood and glandular products.
It has been in business for 11 years and employs two to 11 people, depending on the killing seasons.
The company has reported steady growth over the past few years with more than 95 per cent of products exported.
Managing director  Angela Payne said milestones in the past year included the purchase of a  $200,000 freeze drier, extensions to the  premises and a  trip to Hong Kong that promoted freeze-dried glandular products.
"Business is great. We put our resilience down to being very lucky in the market we are in, and staying cashed-up enough to ride out humps and make the most of opportunities that come along," she said.
They have a world hit on their hands
Craftsmanship, quality and innovation are three words which sum up Otane-based company Wood Mallets Ltd.
They are a small but passionate team of craftsmen  who manufacture polo mallets and croquet equipment from The Park homestead, five kilometres east of Otane.
They are world leaders in the development of  polo and croquet equipment and cite their ongoing research and development programme as a major factor in their success.
They have operated for 27 years and have three  fulltime and three part-time employees.
A large proportion of orders are taken via their website woodmallets.com and deliveries to over 50 countries are made within a few days.
Exports are 85 per cent of their business.
They say they take as much pride in their customer service and overall business excellence as they do in their product quality and craftsmanship.
They were the  business of the year winner in 2001.