Juice company named NZ's best

Local company Simply Squeezed, founded in Bay View in 1991, has been awarded the title of Best Fresh Juice at the 2011 New Zealand Juice and Beverage Awards.

It was their original orange juice which impressed an independent panel of judges to win the category.

The awards, which were announced at a conference in Tauranga recently, recognised the best non-alcoholic beverages produced by local and global manufacturers.

After picking up two awards in 2010, Simply Squeezed beat out international brands to take the Best Fresh Juice title this year.

A judging panel, representing food and packaging technologists, marketers, dieticians, sports people, media and consumers, led by Kay McMath, decided on the winners, following a tasting at Massey University's Food Technology department in Auckland.

The awards provide consumers with a guide to the industry's best products NZJBA President James Wilson said.

"We are delighted to be able to deliver to New Zealand consumers a wide range of beverages," he said.

"Something for each occasion and purpose, to suit a range of tastes and flavour preferences, judged to be high quality by independent experts."

The Simply Squeezed brand proudly employs local people and sources fruit from Hawke's Bay and Gisborne where possible, to create a range of juices and smoothies.

The plant where Simply Squeezed products are produced remains in Bay View where the business was founded, but has come a long way since those early days.

The company started out delivering freshly squeezed orange juice to hotels in and around Napier, and has since become New Zealand's leading chilled juice producer.

"We now have over 3000 customers, we literally supply from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island," sales and marketing manager Daryl Greentree said.

"We are the biggest chilled juice brand in the country and we employ 80 people, 40 of which are based in Hawke's Bay."

Simply Squeezed CEO Adrian Barr said winning the award was a reflection of the care that goes into making the product.

"[It is] a direct result of the amazing work our people have done sourcing fruit directly from growers, squeezing, blending and delivering quality products.

"Every day for the past 20 years we have challenged ourselves to deliver New Zealand's best tasting juices, and we go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that this is achieved," he said.

While Simply Squeezed is New Zealand's leading chilled juice brand, it also produces and sells juices under the Supreme, Arano, Bay Harvest and Allganics Brands.