A new $30 million state-of-the-art drinks factory in Whakatu fired up for the first time yesterday, bringing 27 new jobs and highlighting Hawke's Bay's reputation as a world leader in fruit produce.
The building, shaped like a "black box", is home to newly formed apple juice producer, the Apple Press, founded by local apple-grower and businessman Ross Beaton who spent five years trying to get the project off the ground.
After Beaton hit on the idea of utilising some of the 13,000 tonnes of so called "ugly fruit" (cosmetically blemished apples that others reject), he got together with food innovation specialist Sally Gallagher to create the Apple Press.
They were unable find a factory with the capability to do it "so, I thought, I better build it", Beaton said.
The high-tech $30m plant now employs 27 people and can produce thousands of bottles of juice per hour, using drinks bottling equipment from German company Krones.