Pet food giant Ziwi crowned Hawke’s Bay ASB Exporter of The Year

Ziwi CEO Stuart Irvine displays how high the floodwaters reached at its Awatoto factory. Photo / Warren Buckland

Pet food giant Ziwi, which operates a $100 million mega kitchen near Napier, has been crowned the Hawke’s Bay ASB Exporter of The Year.

The 2024 ExportNZ ASB Hawke’s Bay Export Awards ceremony was held at Hastings’ Toitoi Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre on Thursday night.

Ziwi won the top accolade with the judges labelling the company “a global success story operating right here from Hawke’s Bay”.

The company exports to 35 countries and employs 450 staff.

A winner was announced for each of the four categories – best emerging business, excellence in innovation, best established business and excellence in sustainability – followed by the overall Hawke’s Bay ASB Exporter of The Year.

The full list of winners can be found below.

Ziwi opened its new mega kitchen for the production of pet food in Awatoto in 2022, which is the largest pet food facility in the country.

However, it was badly flooded a few months later during Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.

It took months of repairs, replacements and clean-up work to get the factory roaring back to life following those floods.

The Ziwi team at the awards ceremony. Photo / Export Awards

The judges were impressed by the company’s tenacity but mostly by its innovation and business operation.

“They spearhead world-leading research into the linkage between pet food and animal health,” the judges said.

“From product to packaging, to marketing and reaching customers around the globe, Ziwi impressed across all levels of a business.”

The Napier company also won the T&G Global Best Established Business Award.

The awards also recognised two individuals, with the Napier Port Unsung Heroes Award going to Stu Hutchinson, factory manager for New Zealand Frost Fans, and Kay Willan, who is the RSE manager for FreshCo. The NZ Defence Force was also named an Unsung Hero for their contribution to the region during Cyclone Gabrielle.

The annual awards cover an area from Dannevirke up to Tairāwhiti (Gisborne) celebrating excellence in exports.

Full list of winners:

• 2024 ASB Hawke’s Bay Exporter of the Year: Ziwi

• ContainerCo Best Emerging Exporter Award: Rare New Zealand

• T&G Global Best Established Business Award: Ziwi

• Southeast Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence in Innovation Award: Taylor Corporation

• Newstalk ZB/Hawke’s Bay Today Excellence in Sustainability: Kiwi Crunch

• Judges’ Choice Award: FrostBoss, NZ Frost Fans

• Unsung Heroes Award: Stu Hutchinson, NZ Frost Fans; Kay Willan, Freshco; NZ Defence Force