Talus loses battle against cheap imports

Talus industries in Levin has closed, making 20 people redundant.

Another Horowhenua manufacturer has succumbed to economic pressures after more than 60 years in business, making 20 people redundant.

Talus Industries based in Levin produced brands such as Prolon mouthguards, Dixcro wire brushes and Brushworks household brushware and cleaning tools.

Chief executive officer Craig Dais said Talus Industries had been struggling for more than five years and the business was no longer viable.

Dais said their products were of excellent quality and second to none but they couldn't compete with cheap imports.

"For some of our products, we couldn't buy the raw materials for the price other brands were being sold on the shelf for," he said.

"We can sit here moaning about it, but society has become attuned to lower quality product, [most] people aren't valuing quality brushware anymore."

Dais said they were having to inject too much money into the business to keep it going.
"People are buying products based on price, not quality," he said.

"You can explain it has horse hair, but in the end, it's $12 more expensive than the other ones."

He said the company had a loyal following that valued the quality of their product but regardless, the business was still not viable.

On August 11, with unions involved, 20 employees were made redundant, some of whom had been with the company more than 40 years, according to Dais.

"Every employee's agreement was honoured and paid out, a number of [them] have already found new jobs, but not all," he said.

"Our longest-serving employee had been with us for 41 years and had come straight out of school and had never left."

Dais said it's always sad when a business closes and people made redundant.

"We tried a lot of things, we moved to new distribution channels, we invested more into new products, however, to keep it going, the business was being propped up."

Dais said they had run out of patience. "To have a brand, you don't have to have a manufacturing plant anymore, you can import a product and just put your brand on it."