‘Extensive rebuild’: Awatoto’s new $85m super-kitchen had just opened prior to floods

Workers outside the flooded Ziwi plant in Awatoto, which is now entering a rebuild stage. Photo / Paul Taylor

A brand new $85 million super-kitchen operated by pet food giant Ziwi is having to be rebuilt near Napier - just months after opening.

One-metre-deep floodwaters poured through the Awatoto plant and caused widespread damage during the February 14 floods.

Ziwi operations director Richard Harding said the super-kitchen plant had only been open for six months when Cyclone Gabrielle hit, and an “extensive rebuild” is now under way following the clean-up process.

“[We] had just got through commissioning and had started to ramp up production, unfortunately, when the flood hit us,” he said.

“In the weeks preceding the cyclone, on one of the lines we were just hitting full production, and we had another line which we were just starting to commission.

An aerial view of the facility in early 2022 while it was under construction.

“So essentially, it was a fully operating factory when the cyclone came through.”

He said the company was “100 per cent” committed to staying put and rebuilding, but it will be another three to four months before crews can - once again - begin work at the pet food factory.

The plant boasts state-of-the-art technology and equipment, much of which will have to be repaired or replaced.

“Some of the kit is written off, some of it is replaceable, and some of it is undamaged.”

He said about 100 employees had been based at the plant, including in administrative roles, but no one had lost their job as a result of the cyclone.

Clean-up work at Ziwi after the floods. Photo / Paul Taylor

The company has redeployed staff to two of its smaller facilities in nearby Twyford and Greenmeadows, and Ziwi also has two facilities in Tauranga and Christchurch.

The Awatoto site is Ziwi’s biggest facility and was operating 24/7. A crew was evacuated on the morning of the cyclone prior to flooding hitting the suburb.

Ziwi is one of the largest companies in the industrial suburb of Awatoto, alongside the likes of fertiliser company Ravensdown, which was also badly flooded.

Harding said it had been “quite a big bump in the road”, but they were insured.