July 4, 2008
New Zealand vanilla company, Réunion Food has doubled its turnover after establishing its first sales in the Australian market.
Jennifer Boggiss, Director of Réunion Food said they had not expected such an immediate response to their brand, Heilala Vanilla.
“We had thought that it would take a couple of years to get into Australia and we were hoping for our first sales by the end of this year – so we are thrilled to have sales already.
“The bigger population means bigger volume so this is a real boon for us.”
Boggiss credits much of the success to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) identifying the right distributor.
“We were put in touch with NZTE Sydney at the beginning of this year to help us research a New South Wales distribution partner. The company NZTE came back with, Gershgoods, was the ideal fit.
“A family business, passionate about great food and with a specialised product range – this was exactly what we were after.”
NZTE Senior Trade Development Manager Sue Reid said Heilala Vanilla was not a hard sell.
“There are a lot of vanillas in the market, but Heilala stands out for the quality of its branding and packaging which makes it appealing to the higher end of the market.
“The company also grows the vanilla which allows it to quality control and guarantee its product.”
Heilala has been picked up by an associate company of Gershgoods in South Australia and recently had its first sales in Malaysia and Singapore.
The organic vanilla is grown on a plantation in Tonga that Réunion Food established over five years ago in partnership with the local village. Réunion Food is also the first commercial growers of vanilla in New Zealand, with a crop in Tauranga set to be harvested next year.
Its products are sold into specialty retail stores, to chefs and gourmet food manufacturers.
For further information contact
Jennifer Boggiss, Director, Réunion Food Company, Phone 027 479 9089, jennifer@heilalavanilla.co.nz – www.heilalavanilla.co.nz
Sue Reid, NZTE Senior Trade Development Manager Sydney, Phone +61 2 9234 2703, sue.reid@nzte.govt.nz
Distributed by Carolyne Jurriaans, Communications Consultant Phone: 09 354 9150, Mobile: 027 552 4195, carolyne.jurriaans@nzte.govt.nz
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