News release
26 September 2005

Neil Craig is the new Chairman of the natural health food company Comvita Limited.

Craig, Executive Chairman of ABN Amro Craigs Limited, takes over the role from Bill Bracks on October 1.

Bracks, who came to Comvita in 1991 as a consultant for three days and stayed 15 years, has been Chair since the first board was formally established in 1997. He will continue as a board member. Since 1991, the firm’s annual turnover has grown from $1.5 million to $30 million.

Craig became a Comvita director in April 2005, having been an alternate director since 2002. He has been a shareholder since 1997. ABN Amro Craigs managed Comvita’s float on the NZAX in November 2003.

Craig holds a number of private company directorships in the kiwifruit industry including Opotiki Packaging & Coolstorage Limited, Punchbowl Coolstores Limited and Kiwifruit International Limited. He has been a director on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, Mighty River Power and TrustBank Bay of Plenty Limited.

The ABN Amro Craig company has grown from an original firm started by Craig at Whakatane in 1984. The firm now has 13 offices nationwide, employing 200 people.

Bracks says Comvita’s board chose Craig because, apart from his interest in the firm from the outset, he has widespread investment and commercial skills.

Craig says Bracks has used very strong governance skills and a high level of marketing vision to position Comvita as a strong international marketer, and to put Comvita into the public arena.

“Now it has marketing channels and the structure which make it ready for a new phase of growth. I think this will be through both acquisitions and internal growth,” Craig says.

Comvita last month won its second Food Exporter of the Year award, and is pursuing a planned strategy to change from being an ‘exporter’ to an ‘international marketer’ of natural health products and health solutions.

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Neil Craig
Chairman designate, Comvita Limited
Telephone +64 (7) 5774 732

News release
26 August 2005

Comvita appoints new CEO with sights firmly on further international growth

Natural health food company Comvita Limited today announced the appointment of a new chief executive with extensive international business development experience.

Mr Brett Hewlett, of Tauranga, will take up the role from September 19.

Comvita chairman Bill Bracks says the company is on a strong international growth path, and Mr Hewlett has the skill set to help achieve further significant expansion abroad.

In its last financial half-year, exports made up 60% of Comvita’s sales, which grew 30% in New Zealand dollar terms during that period.

Mr Hewlett has spent 15 years of his 20 year-career overseas with the global food processing and food packaging solutions provider Tetra Pak. As one of its top 150 executives worldwide, he led the 1988 start-up of a company developing Tetra Pak’s eastern Mediteranean markets (Lebanon, Syria, Jordon, Iraq and Palestine), building a team of 35 staff and significant revenues by 2002.

Mr Hewlett earlier held technical director and area general manager roles with Tetra Pak. For four years he was a project manager with Alfa Laval UK Limited (later acquired by Tetra Pak), leading teams to build new dairy and food processing plants. Mr. Hewlett returned to New Zealand with his family in 2004 and started a business mentoring service.

Mr Bracks says Comvita has been taking control of its own marketing overseas and under current CEO Graeme Boyd, who has had the role since 1998, has made significant gains in key markets, including the UK, Australia, Taiwan and Japan.

Comvita’s principal export growth strategy is to change from being an ‘exporter’ to an ‘international marketer’ of natural health products and health solutions, Mr Bracks says.

“Future plans include an office in the UK which will also become the base for expanding into Europe, and to grow new business in the United States where significant opportunities exist in the Medical Honey products market. The new CEO has the skills to help make those happen.”

Comvita has more than 90 staff in New Zealand and a further 10 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. This month it was named food and beverage Exporter of the Year.

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Natural products success story

August 12, 2005

Comvita Ltd, a Te Puke company that’s created a multi-million dollar business based on natural bee products, has won the 2005 Food and Beverage Exporter of the Year Award.

A fast-growing publicly listed company, Comvita increased annual export earnings by 47% in 2004 to $14.6 million, its success fuelled by an ambitious expansion plan that has seen it diversify beyond its traditional bee products and embark on an internationalisation strategy.

Comvita beat off tough competition from premium vodka producer 42 BELOW, New Zealand King Salmon Company and Nobilo Wine Group Ltd to take top honours in the food and beverage category at the 2005 New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Export Awards, presented in Christchurch on 11 August.

Food and beverage was one of eight sector based export awards presented at the gala dinner. The ultimate accolade, the 2005 DHL Supreme Exporter of the Year Award, was won by Auckland technology innovator Rakon Ltd which also won the ICT Exporter of the Year.

NZTE CEO Tim Gibson said the outstanding achievements of Comvita and the other Export Award winners on the world stage should make all New Zealanders proud, adding that they were deserving of the same adulation as our sports’ heroes.

The Export Awards’ judges said the Bay of Plenty enterprise had successfully established Comvita as a premium brand internationally.

“Comvita has focused on developed a strong brand and has fought hard to win business in the very competitive natural products market. A strong market strategy implemented over the past few years has seen the company mature and move to take greater direct control of the distribution and marketing of its products.”

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.

Under his tutelage Comvita has grown from being a small private entity with two shareholders to one where it has more than 700 shareholders, is publicly listed, with annual sales of nearly $30 million. Most importantly, says Mr Boyd, the business is very profitable.

“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. About 50% of sales are from direct exports and a further 25% from Asians living in New Zealand and tourists.

“We are the only New Zealand company specialising in adding value to the whole range of apiculture by-products. We are also investing in R&D to expand into new premium healthcare products. These aren’t just variants of our existing bee based products, but using entirely new bulk ingredients, such as colostrum and grapeseed extract which we’re currently developing into an immune boosting product.”

An in-house naturopath assists with product development. Comvita is also using company and technology acquisition to accelerate its product development capability.

Comvita products are tailored for two distinct markets – Asians (which includes Asians living in New Zealand) and western. A product may offer the same end-benefits, but it’s formulated, packaged and marketed according to the market.

A strategy to take the company from being an exporter to an international marketer of natural health products and health solutions is seeing Comvita take direct control of the price, positioning and promotion of its products in export markets.

“The internationalisation strategy is enabling us to take control of our own destiny,” says Mr Boyd. “We are progressively replacing 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.”

Future plans include establishing an office in UK within the next few years, which will be the base for Comvita’s expansion into Europe. It’s also planning to grow its business in the USA.

Mr Boyd says the Comvita brand is a valuable asset, providing competitive advantage through its association with pure, high quality natural health products. The New Zealand origin of the products is another strength.

“New Zealand’s international clean, green image and unique natural resources such as manuka honey with exceptional antibacterial qualities provide us with a competitive advantage and is something that we highlight in our branding.”

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.

NZTE CEO Tim Gibson said export success was critical to lifting the standard of living for all New Zealanders and other companies should look to the 2005 Export Award winners and benchmark their activities on them. He thanked DHL, the major sponsor of the Export Awards and a long time partner of the event.

DHL Express General Manager, Phil Rountree, said DHL has a long and very proud tradition in helping acknowledge the ‘best of the best’ when it comes to exporting.

"We would like to congratulate the 2005 Export Awards winners for their outstanding successes which have benefited not only their organisations, but also the export industry in its entirety. With six of the eight winners this year also being DHL customers, we are especially pleased to recognise those organisations whose achievements we have witnessed first hand."

For more information please contact:
Graeme Boyd, Chief Executive Officer, Comvita Ltd,Email: graeme.boyd@comvita.com

NZ Trade and Enterprise