Firm shortlisted for regional award

APPLE OF HIS EYE: Brian Belluomini of Mela, Greytown, with a selection of his juices.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

A Greytown juice company has been nominated as a finalist in this year's Wellington On a Plate Producer Awards.

Mela has been announced as one of 10 artisan producers from the Wellington region nominated in the Established Small Business category for companies operating for more than five years and with an annual turnover of less than $1 million.

Mela chief executive Brian Belluomini said the company had gained a good "foothold" in Wellington, with the firm experiencing exponential sales of the smaller-sized bottles.

"It's actually a product that looks really good."

"You can be confident drinking it knowing that there's no additives or nasty stuff. And you can see the two people who made it."

The scale of the company was also something that set it apart, with only about 200,000 litres produced every year, using Mela's older-style juice press.

"We are using quite an old press and it doesn't over-extract the juice ... and it's a small production plant, where we are busy doing everything ourselves."

Another point of difference was the company's decision to bottle their juices by apple variety, he said.

While excited by the nomination for the award, Mela was up against some tough competition, including Wellington's Carello del Gelato, Mr Belluomini said.

"We were surprised actually. It's amazing how these things happen ... but I'm hoping we can take it out."

Two other Wairarapa businesses, Longbush Pork and Clareville Bakery have been nominated in the "Emerging Business" category.