 |
 Potiki Ranked in Top 5 of "The Most Exciting Companies Maori and Iwi Sector"
Tuaropaki Trust cooks with gas
New Zealand's Most Exciting Companies
National Business Review
26 September 2008
<Giving people a beacon of hope and prosperity>
Graeme Kennedy [NBR]
The Tuaropaki Trust has almost doubled its annual revenues to around $50 million in the past four years with a diverse business portfolio ranging from farming and horticulture to geothermal power generation and satellite communications.
Net profits for its 1500 shareholders have in the same time increased from $3.3 million to $14 million as the enterprise continues to boost food and beverage exports and develops new activities.
Although reluctant to discuss Tuaropaki’s success as a Maori business, trust chairman Tumanako Wereta said it gave his people a beacon of hope and prosperity.
“1 know my grandchildren will be well looked after when I am gone,” Mr Wereta said.
“The success and growth have been due to transformational leadership from our elders — we have a corporate team which looks at the bottom line while our leaders look at the horizon. The key is finding a balance between the two and we have had that.”
The Tuaropaki trust topped the Maori and Iwi sector in the NBR’s monthly Exciting Companies series with a rating of 93.1 — the highest ever recorded — in surveys conducted by strategicbusiness consultancy New River.
It was followed by Kaikoura’s Whale Watch with 77.6, Tu Mai Magazine on 76, Nelson wineries, horticulture, tourism and mussel farm company Wakatu Incorporation with 73 and Auckland tourism operator Potiki Adventures with 68.
The trust grew from the 1952 amalgamation of land near Taupo owned by seven Mokai sub-tribes to create a single 2700ha block which with acquisitions is now 3900ha.
Tuaropaki Station initially returned small dividends but under trust management now has 1350 cows in a 50-50 sharemilking operating and stock including almost 11,000 sheep, 2000 cattle and 2000 deer.
The trust set up the Tuaropaki Power Company in 1994 and with a multi-million dollar Australian investment commissioned its first generator, Mokai 1, powered by geothermal steam from beneath its land in 2000.
A second plant has since opened to produce a total 110MW of electricity while Mighty River Power has taken a 25% stake in TPC.
In 2002 the trust took a 25% share of Gourmet Mokai, a joint venture with produce grower and exporter Gourmet Paprika and in 2002 built 5.5ha of geothermally heated hydroponic glasshouses on its land.
Glasshouse area has since been increased by 6.2 ha to provide more export crops including tomatoes and paprika.
The trust is also a 16% shareholder in Vinoptima Estates at Gisborne where the 9.7 ha vineyard is expected to produce 78,000 bottles of gewurtztraminer, mainly for export.
The trust has leased space on a US communications satellite for broadband internet services to provincial and remote areas of New Zealand under its Inzone branding.
Trustees develop their skills by attending NZ Institute of Directors five-day training courses.
TOURISM, ARTS SECTORS SLOW
Many independent Maori businesses are finding conditions flat while iwi and trust ventures continue to thrive, according to a New River survey of the sector.
“They are two quite different segments and different forces affect the buoyancy or difficulty of each,” the consultancy found.
They survey said 35% of respondents considered conditions neutral, 30% difficult to very difficult and 35% buoyant to very buoyant.
New River said the independents were subject to the same opportunities and pressures as any other businesses although they tended to be more active in areas such as tourism, arts and health.
But tourism was currently providing little growth and the arts area was slowing due to less discretionary income in the economy this year.
“Health is buoyant because Maori are the group most in need of improved health care so there is a lot of activity,” New River said.
“However, it is a sector which is always difficult to work in.”
Iwi businesses, however, were usually in more conservative areas such as fishing and forestry and were not subject to the same volatility as others.
Strong business capabilities had emerged in those which had had Treaty settlements for some time — Ngai Tahu and Tainui had grown their settlements of $170 million each in the mid- Nineties to $600 million.
Iwi which received settlements more recently were in a transitional phase and moving from a difficult background to develop management skills and infrastructure while working together and sharing knowledge.
New River said Maori, with 100 tribes and 14% of New Zealand’s population, owned 1.5% of the country’s commercial assets estimated in 2006 to be worth $16 billion.
The Most Exciting Companies Maori and Iwi Sector September 2008
- Tuaropaki Trust
- Whale Watch (Ngai Tahu)
- Ta Mai magazine
- Wakatu Incorporation
- Potiki Adventures
Others to watch: Dean Nikora, Tamaki Tours, Kahui Tautoko, Mital Maori Village and Cultureflow
> Back to news archive |
