History made at Bay of Plenty Export Awards

EMERGING BUSINESS: Chief executive of Miraka Ltd, Richard Wyeth, pictured at the company's processing plant north of Taupo.PHOTO/FILE A-120313NZHAGMIRAKA08

Whakatane's Surtees Boats has made a piece of Bay of Plenty export awards history.

At the BNZ Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards in Mount Maunganui last night it became the first company in the awards' 25-year history to take out the Emerging Exporter of the Year and the Exporter of the Year title in consecutive years.

The five award winners were announced at the country music themed awards evening, where guests were entertained by MC Te Radar on a stage which included a working saloon bar.

Head judge Kelvin Trask said judges were impressed by the variety of businesses who entered from milk, vanilla, roofing, luxury fibre to solar energy.

There were no two companies in the same sector.

Overall winners Surtees Boats design and build aluminum trailer boats for fishing and recreational use, with 50 per cent of their boats exported.

The judges commented that through listening, design innovation, practical features, naked craftsmanship by dedicated specialists and a great dealer network, the team at Surtees Boats build boats "built to fish".

"An Australian has tried to copy the Surtees range, but the Surtees boats have generated their own strong brand loyalty and sales in Australia have more than doubled in recent years," they said.

The Emerging Exporter of the Year Award went to Taupo's Miraka Limited.

Miraka, Maori for milk, is a young, state of the art manufacturer in the dairy processing industry. Owned by a group of Maori trusts and incorporations, Miraka has gone from an unknown start up to a successful company within three years, with export revenues in excess of $200 million and nearly 70 new jobs.

Judges commented Miraka was a company nurturing the land and its people.

"A jewel off the beaten track quietly achieving remarkable results through innovation and local resources."

Tauranga businessman Ian Macrae, managing director at Page Macrae Engineering, was the recipient of the Service to Export award for his outstanding contributions to the export community in the innovation space in particular.