Yarrows (The Bakers) Limited, a Taranaki company into its third generation of family ownership that operates round the clock, exporting six to eight containers of products to clients across the globe daily, has won the 2007 Food and Beverage Exporter of the Year Award.

The Award was presented to Yarrows at the New Zealand Export Awards in Auckland on 15 November. Food and Beverage was one of seven sector awards, with the top prize, the DHL Supreme Exporter of the Year, won by IBEX Group of Companies.

The Export Awards judges said Yarrows is an organisation that has been an icon in the Taranaki province since the 1920s.

“Its community involvement is generous and yet business orientated. The business is well led and has a tradition of looking to the future, wealth creation and change.”

NZTE Chief Executive Tim Gibson congratulated the seven 2007 Export Award winners, describing their achievements as inspirational.

“These companies represent a vibrant mix of successful export businesses; companies that have identified a gap in the marketplace and cultivated their point of difference to produce and distribute quality goods effectively in international markets, using a variety of business models.

“We need to see more New Zealand businesses following their lead and operating internationally in order to increase our global business footprint.

“My congratulations to all the finalists in this year’s Awards and my thanks for your willingness to stand up and stand out among your peers in Export Year. You are inspired and inspiring.”

Founded by the Yarrow family in 1923, Yarrows started exporting in a small scale way in the late 1970s, said Russell Guckert, the Group’s Chief Operating Officer.

That all changed in 1996 when the Subway sandwich chain entered Australasia and Yarrows successfully tendered to supply it with bread in a frozen dough form, to a superior quality and an exact recipe.

Yarrows beat off big international competition to win the Subway contract, said Mr Guckert. It was a coup for the Manaia business and a feather in the cap for Paul Yarrow who had spearheaded their bid. A grandson of the company founder, Paul Yarrow is the Group’s major shareholder.

Mr Guckert said Yarrows’ supply contract with Subway now extends to Australia, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. At the same time it won the Subway contract, he said Yarrows started targeting Australian supermarkets.

“We recognised that the frozen dough market in Australia was immature, with supermarket chains relying on traditional ‘scratch baking’ (making up from raw materials on site). We foresaw the shortage of skilled bakers would grow and force a switch to a lesser skill set, which promoted an opportunity for our long shelf life natural frozen dough products.”

As well as addressing the skill shortage, the frozen dough reduces the customer’s wage and overhead costs significantly, giving them the ability to bake the products as and when required.

About 60 percent of Yarrows’ business is now exports, with sales to hotels, restaurants and retailers in the US, Australia, the Pacific Islands, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE and Japan. Its extensive product range includes breads, rolls, cookies, croissants, pastries, pie tarts and specialty breads.

Yarrows has 250 employees in the Manaia operation and a further 150 throughout New Zealand and Australia.

 

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