2005 NEW ZEALAND TRADE AND ENTERPRISE EXPORT AWARDS – BAY OF PLENTY COMPANY MAKES EXPORT AWARD FINALS
  
16 June 2005 - Bay of Plenty company Comvita Ltd has today been named a finalist in the 2005 New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Export Awards after increasing annual export earnings by 47% in 2004 to $14.6 million.
 
The big increase in international revenue has been fuelled by an ambitious growth plan that has seen the company expand beyond its traditional bee products and embark on an internationalisation strategy.
 
Based in Te Puke, Comvita is one of 21 Export Award finalists from around the country. They range from a manufacturing giant earning more than $200 million in exports annually, to small, entrepreneurial software developers. The finalists will compete for eight sector-based Export Awards and prizes, with the winners to be announced at a gala dinner in Christchurch on 11 August. One of the sector winners will also be named the 2005 DHL Supreme Exporter of the Year.
 
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise CEO Tim Gibson congratulated the finalists and said they were doing an outstanding job helping to improve New Zealand’s economy.
 
“Export success is critical to lifting New Zealand into the top half of the OECD rankings. The finalists are also helping to build a culture of business enterprise in New Zealand, and helping to position New Zealand as a source of innovation.”
 
Mr Gibson said the annual NZTE Export Awards are New Zealand’s opportunity to applaud its exporting heroes and give them the recognition they deserve.
 
“The Export Awards also have a broader purpose - showcasing inspirational exporters both large and small and helping to generate others in their league.”
 
He thanked DHL, the major sponsor of the Export Awards and a long time partner of the event.
 
Comvita Ltd
 
CEO Graeme Boyd joined Comvita in 1998 and was charged with taking the firm to a new level of sophistication and growth, building on what had been achieved by the two original shareholders, one of whom had started the business in his shed in the 1970s.
 
“In six years we’ve grown from being a small private entity with two shareholders to one where we have over 700 shareholders, are publicly listed and four times the size, with annual sales of nearly $30 million and most importantly are very profitable,” says Mr Boyd. He says about 50% of sales are from direct exports and a further 25% from Asians living in New Zealand and tourists.
 
Comvita’s principal export growth strategy is to change from being an ‘exporter’ to an ‘international marketer’ of natural health products and health solutions.
 
“Anybody involved in exporting to more than one country evolves through a continuum, that at one end might have them exporting a barrel of honey to the other end where they would have a global brand with control over every aspect of the operation,” explains Mr Boyd. He says it’s an evolutionary line that Comvita consciously decided to move along.
 
“It’s taking time but it’s absolutely working and it’s enabling us to take control of our own destiny. We are progressively replacing international distribution agents with our own subsidiaries or joint ventures to get closer to our consumers. We started in Australia by taking our own marketing decisions and were so impressed by the success of that we decided to extend the strategy into Asia.
 
“Internationalisation doesn’t mean we have to have our own sales people, warehouses or logistics services in the market, but it does mean we control the price, positioning and promotion of our products.”
 
Mr Boyd says Comvita is the only New Zealand company specialising in adding value to the whole range of apiculture by-products. The company is also investing in R&D to expand into new, premium healthcare products using entirely new bulk ingredients, such as grapeseed extract  and colostrum. An in-house naturopath assists with product development. Comvita is also using company and technology acquisition to accelerate its product development capability.
 
Comvita has more than 90 staff in New Zealand and a further ten offshore in subsidiaries in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and most recently Taiwan. It uses contract manufacturers throughout New Zealand to boost its in-house capability.
 
Future plans include establishing an office in UK within the next few years, which will be the base for its expansion into Europe. It’s also planning to grow its business in the USA. Mr Boyd says they are taking this market slowly, learning from other New Zealand companies about the challenges they encountered trying to successfully penetrate that market.
 
He’s very proud of what Comvita has achieved in recent years and says the future looks equally as promising.
 
“We’ve been enjoying in excess of 20% compound growth per annum in sales and are looking at a similar sort of growth profile in future. Exports will remain a strong driver of that growth.”
 
DHL Express General Manager, Phil Rountree, said DHL has a long and proud tradition in helping acknowledge the top echelon of exporting and entrepreneurial talent since first beginning our sponsorship of the Awards nearly a decade ago.  Given that over two thirds of this year's finalists are also DHL customers, this also provides us with an ideal opportunity to formally recognise the accomplishments of those organisations who we assist on a daily basis. We would like to congratulate all finalists for their outstanding successes which have benefited not only their organisations but also the export industry in its entirety.
 
In addition to the NZTE Export Awards, event partners Export New Zealand will present their National Emerging Exporter of the Year and the Foundation for Research, Science & Technology will present their Technology Commendations for 2005.
 
For more information please contact:
 
Graeme Boyd, Chief Executive Officer, Comvita Ltd, Ph: 07 533 1426, Email: graeme.boyd@comvita.com, www.comvita.com
 
Paul Higgins, Communications Consultant, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
Ph: 09 915 4224, mobile 0275 502 373, Email: paul.higgins@nzte.govt.nz
 
 
Editors Note:        
 
About the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Export Awards:
The New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Export Awards, featuring the DHL Supreme Exporter of the Year, recognise outstanding achievement and growth by New Zealand exporters across a range of sectors. Finalists become contenders for each category Export Award and they then vie for the 2005 DHL Supreme Exporter of the Year.
 
About New Zealand Trade and Enterprise:
 
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is the New Zealand government’s national economic development agency. Through its network of 48 offices worldwide, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise aims to grow New Zealand’s economy by boosting the capability of businesses and regions and facilitating their sustained and profitable participation in overseas markets.
 
www.nzte.govt.nz  or www.exportawards.co.nz 0800 555 888
 
About DHL:
With annual revenues of nearly €22 billion in 2003, DHL is the global market leader of the international express and logistics industry, specialising in providing innovative and customised solutions from a single source.  
 
DHL offers expertise in express, air and ocean freight, overland transport and logistics solutions, combined with worldwide coverage and an in-depth understanding of local markets. DHL's international network links more than 220 countries and territories worldwide.  Over 160,000 employees are dedicated to providing fast and reliable services that exceed customers' expectations.
 
DHL is 100% owned by Deutsche Post World Net.
 
About DHL in New Zealand:
DHL New Zealand employs 450 staff at ten locations.  DHL's New Zealand operation is committed to customer value, service excellence and shipment visibility.  In 2004, DHL was awarded the Contact Centre Manager of the Year by TUANZ and is Services sector winner of the CRM Contact Centre awards.   DHL is also a corporate sponsor of Surf Life Saving New Zealand, business partner of New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and supporter of Fashion Industry New Zealand.
 
 

News Release
December 21, 2004

Comvita Opens First Store In China

Natural health products company Comvita is rubbing shoulders with big international brands of the likes of Boss, Calvin Klein, Valentino and Escada in one of China’s largest shopping malls.
A new Comvita store has just opened in the MIXc shopping mall in Shenzhen in the heart of China’s Guangdong region – just across the border from Hong Kong.
The 188,000 square metre mall features around 300 international and domestic brands on six floors.
Comvita Asia’s regional manager Sam Tsoi says many famous brands have opened stores in the mall due to its close vicinity to the Hong Kong border.

“Shenzhen is an important foreign trade and international exchange port in China,” he says.

The MIXc offers a unique mid to high-end shopping and recreation centre for both the seven million surrounding residents and the fast-growing Chinese tourism market.

Comvita Consumer Division Manager, Scott Coulter says the opening of the store in China is the continuation of a long term strategy to position Comvita’s products at the high end of China’s rapidly expanding consumer brand markets.

Coulter says this dovetails nicely with the positioning Comvita has already established with the China Duty Free Group. He says Comvita has also built up reasonable experience of the duty free market with its existing outlets at Hong Kong’s international airport.

He says Comvita products are now retailed in airport and duty free stores in selected airports across China. And there are expected to be a number of airports of the size of Hong Kong’s operating in China over the next decade, further boosting the duty free market.

Coulter says tremendous numbers of Chinese are now travelling abroad – 11 million in the first five months of 2004.

“China has the highest growth in outbound tourists in the world,” he says. “That means there are now more international tourists from China than from Japan.”

“Air passenger traffic in China is expected to tip 104 million passengers this year. When you consider that has risen from 87 million passengers in 2003, our decision to target the travel and tourism market is proving to have promise.”

Coulter says it has taken a lot of hard work and persistence over many years to establish markets in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. However Comvita’s 35% growth in Asian markets in 2004 says they are on track.

“We have a good plan, we are following that plan and now we just have to remain focused and build on the solid base we have.”

For more information contact:
Scott Coulter 07 533 1426

For media information contact:
Darrell Carlin 07 571 4203 or 021 709 907