Zuru has supplied millions of face masks to the Ministry of Health to distribute to DHBs and retailers.
Zuru has supplied millions of face masks to the Ministry of Health to distribute to DHBs and retailers.
Global toy company Zuru has launched a health division, focusing on the supply of face masks and other PPE to the Ministry of Health and some of the world's largest retailers.
The company set up the division in May to help the country secure millions of face masks amid theglobal coronavirus pandemic and has recruited Matt Redstone, formerly of US health care company Cardinal Health, to head the business.
Toy magnate Nick Mowbray, who co-founded Zuru in 2003 with siblings Mat and Anna Mowbray, said the company saw first-hand the early effects of Covid-19 through its offices based in China and Italy and anticipated that New Zealand would struggle to secure enough personal protective equipment (PPE) as the crisis worsened.
During the first lockdown, Zuru supplied the Ministry of Health with more than 42 million masks that were rolled out to frontline workers. In more recent weeks it has supplied millions more which have been distributed to retailers and DHBs.
The company is contract-manufacturing masks and PPE gear through leveraging its supply chain of manufacturers in China to secure PPE for the country.
So far, it has supplied the New Zealand Government with 80 million masks, 500,000 face shields, 2.5 million isolation gowns, 2 million examination gloves, 140 million litres of hand sanitiser and 500,000 packets of alcohol wipes.
Mowbray told the Herald that Zuru had thousands of people on the ground in China and was easily able to help the Government secure additional PPE supplies.
"We booked 50 or so people on the ground across China, contacting factories and suppliers and putting down deposits to win PPE gear early because we knew NZ would need it and that was the stimulus initially to help out and supply the Government," Mowbray told the Herald.
By the end of the year, Zuru would have supplied about 130 million pieces of PPE to the Government.
Another order will be delivered to the Ministry of Health's national store later this year.
"[Our involvement] was more from how do we help because there aren't too many New Zealand companies with our infrastructure and we knew the whole world was competing for this."
Mowbray said Zuru set up www.bactive.co in New Zealand to distribute "fair and reasonable"-priced medical-grade masks in response to the "predatory pricing" it observed across the market.
Its masks are sold for $34.99 for a box of 50, with free shipping.
Through its nappy brand Rascal & Friends, Zuru was already producing millions of packs of wet wipes and had some of the required infrastructure already set up to manufacture disinfectant wipes.
It is now supplying PPE to major US retailers Walmart, Target, CBS and Kroger, among others, as well as Foodstuffs, Countdown and Chemist Warehouse in New Zealand and Coles and Woolworths in Australia.
Matt Redstone, commercial director of Zuru Health, said supplying disinfectant, wipes and hand sanitiser to retailers had become a major line for Bactive, along with masks.
Redstone joined Zuru Health in August. Over the past 14 years he has worked for Medtronic and Cardinal Health, the world's largest supplier of medical equipment.
"New Zealand has been a great hub for us to see the demand and that our products are meeting the needs of a lot of Kiwis both in a clinical setting and the community, and now we're looking to partner with other health organisations within Australia, the US, the UK and beyond to supply those classic PPE lines," Redstone said.
Nick Mowbray. Photo / File
Zuru Health, split between Auckland and Shenzhen, is currently made up of a team of 10. It expects to have at least 30 in the team by the end of the year.
Bactive products by Zuru Health are now sold by some of the world's largest retailers. Photo / Supplied
Supplying PPE has proven to be a lucrative business, but Mowbray said it was not set up for that purpose. It does not make money from supplying the Ministry of Health, he said.
Zuru Health was now focused on sustainability options for PPE products, including the possibility of repurposing respiratory masks, and compostable hospital products.
"We've realised that just because you're in the health or medical sector doesn't mean it should command a huge premium - we feel there is this opportunity to disrupt quite a few categories within the medical segment."
