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Purpose capital wins Best Impact Investment Fund award
The Purpose Capital Impact Fund won the 2022 Best Impact Investment Fund award at the recent annual Mindful Money Awards in Auckland.
Purpose Capital are impact investors who aim to drive positive environmental and social change in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and greater New Zealand.
The judges commended Purpose Capital for their investments and commitment to achieving significant impact through them.
"It was a great affirmation of our work to date and also of the growing awareness of impact investment," said Executive Director Bill Murphy.
The award comes on the heels of Purpose Capital completing several investments.
That included Bureta Build to Rent. Purpose Capital raised and led a $4 million debt syndicate into this secure tenure, Homestar-rated housing development in Tauranga. Bay Trust was a co-investor.
Purpose Capital also raised and led a $10m equity investment syndicate into one of New Zealand's largest utility-scale solar projects for Lodestone Energy, which aims to provide enough electricity for a city the size of Tauranga.
Two of the five solar farms are located in the Bay of Plenty. Trust Horizon was a co-investor.
Following their initial $5.5m investment in June 2020, the Purpose Capital syndicate (Bay Trust, Trust Horizon) has invested a further $2m in Whakatōhea Mussels Ōpōtiki Ltd's most recent capital raise.
"With two other opportunities approved for investment, we have started looking ahead to establishing our second impact fund in early 2023," Murphy said.
United Fresh New Zealand awarded Primary Industries NZ Summit Team Award
United Fresh New Zealand Incorporated has been presented the Primary Industries NZ Summit Team Award for delivering 300,000 boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables to whānau during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Some of those boxes were delivered to the Tauranga Community Foodbank.
The management team of five was responsible for the development of the Fruit and Vegetable Box Project.
The project adapted existing relationships and supply networks to address food shortages and provide an outlet for fresh produce destined for restaurants, tourism outlets, cruise ships and airline catering.
United Fresh General Manager Paula Dudley said the award was a recognition of the whole supply chain.
"We are absolutely thrilled with this award. It is testament to the long-term relationships between United Fresh members and the professionalism of the food distribution centres that we worked alongside."
The Fruit and Vegetable Box Project was an adaption of United Fresh's Ministry of Health-funded initiative, Fruit & Vegetables in Schools (FIS).
"Heading into lockdown, we knew that school closures meant the fruit and vegetables destined for FIS could not be delivered. This amounted to over 120,000 tamariki potentially missing out on vital nutrition every day.
"With approval from the Ministry of Health to redirect existing funding, we presented a proposal to the Ministry for Primary Industries for further assistance and liaised with United Fresh member, Foodstuffs, to secure a donation of 700 boxes of fruit and vegetables.
"We then used our existing supply chain relationships to send over 10 tonnes of produce to foodbanks and City Missions throughout the lockdown periods."
United Fresh managed to get the Fruit and Vegetable Box Project up and running less than two weeks after the initial lockdown was announced, and set in place quality control systems to manage the initiative as well as a suite of financial and reporting measures, all while negotiating the challenges of a team split into two bubbles for safety.
"We have set up projects of this size before, but not under such extreme circumstances. It's only the years of teamwork within our small group and alongside our members that enabled us to respond so quickly," Dudley said.
"The Primary Industries award consolidates United Fresh as the leading pan-produce industry organisation, with 30 years of experience all culminating in this project.
"It is a huge honour for our small team and we acknowledge the support of all our members who helped us to take care of our community."
Rotorua native planting project receives major financial boost
A Rotorua charitable trust striving to plant over 100,000 natives every year has received $130,000 to buy the equipment needed to clear suitable land of gorse and blackberry bushes.
Tipu Waiāriki now has financial backing from BayTrust ($30,000), Rotorua Trust ($81,000) and New Zealand Community Trust ($20,000) and has bought a high-powered mulcher, ute and trailer to help prepare land for planting.
Rotorua businessman and Tipu Waiāriki founder, Gregg Brown, said the mulcher was remote-controlled and weighed a little more than a tonne.
"It is at least 20 to 25 times more productive than a person on a hand-operated brush cutter.
"It can mow blackberry and gorse at about the same speed you can mow your lawn. But it is obviously a lot wider, so we can cover quite a bit of ground in a relatively short period of time."
Brown said he was extremely grateful for the financial support received from community funding agencies.
Tipu Waiāriki has planted about 20,000 plants so far, and was in negotiations to secure nursery space in Rotorua so the next crop of seedlings can be grown. They hope to plant at least another 20,000 next year and ramp up quickly from there.
"We want to get to 100,000 a year sooner rather than later, but the retail price is $4.50 to $5 for a plant the size that we like," Brown said.
"So you are talking $400,000 to $500,000 a year, and there is no funding of that scale. So we have to work out a way of generating our own plants at scale as cheaply as possible."
BayTrust chief executive Alastair Rhodes said Tipu Waiāriki was a wonderful example of a community-led environmental initiative.
"We are very pleased to contribute towards their new equipment to help bring this project to life, and look forward to seeing what Tipu Waiāriki can achieve in the years to come."
Tauranga metal artist featured in luxury international home magazine
Tauranga metal embossing artist Ninette Kruger's artwork has been featured in the August 2022 Condé Nast UK House and Garden Magazine's "Art Edit" publication.
Condé Nast House & Garden Magazine showcases some of the best in international design and decoration from around the world.
House & Garden reached out to Kruger in June to have her work featured in a series of their summer publications.
Kruger creates bespoke pewter and copper artwork for luxury interiors, her pieces being inspired by botany and the ocean. Each is piece is handcrafted from her studio in Bethlehem, Tauranga.
Kruger said her art piece Ode to Succulents, which featured in the magazine, was inspired by a friend's love for succulent plants.
"Succulents represent tenacity, determination, life, endurance, longevity, perseverance, growth and survival, she said.
"This is a great reminder for us that even if we are in the darkest situations of our lives, we should not give up, and beauty can come from our trials and tribulations. Anything is possible."
