Icecream queen named New Zealand’s top entrepreneur

Foreman recently won the prestigious award and will now compete for the World Entrepreneur of the Year title in Monte Carlo next year.

Foreman is CEO of the Emerald Group, which runs Emerald Foods, a company with a stable of six ice-cream brands, including NZN. The Emerald Group also operates companies in the health, property, hospitality, tourism and recruitment industries.

She says winning the award has not only been a personal triumph but good for business too, with many people approaching her since the awards.

"The exciting part is that many of these contacts have been international, which will stimulate further growth particularly for Emerald Foods."

Earlier this year Emerald Foods was also named ‘Best Business Operating Internationally with an annual turnover between $10 million to $50 million’ in the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) 2009 New Zealand International Business Awards.

In the food industry, the NZN brand has the distinction of being the food sector’s biggest franchise operation, having expanded into 21 countries with nearly 700 franchised ice-cream parlours.

The premium ice-cream is made here and also sold overseas through supermarkets and hotel chains. It is exported to 29 countries.

For Foreman, the business is about much more than making and selling ice-cream.

"People think ice-cream is simply ice-cream”, she says. “The way I see it, while we are committed to making the best tasting ice-cream, what I am more interested in doing is raising the bar so we make ice-cream no one has ever tasted before.”

“That's what being an entrepreneur is all about, setting the standard that others will then follow.”

The company’s latest innovation, Sooshi ice-cream, is one example of Foreman breaking new ground. While it looks like sushi, it is ice- cream wrapped in a fruit roll with real fruit fillings.

NZTE Food and Beverage Sector Manager, Michael Fountaine, says winning both awards is a major achievement for Foreman.

He attributes her success partly to “her focus and tenacity”, traits that set good leaders apart in the export world.

Other keys to her success are that she is unafraid to take on new challenges, is innovative and has skilfully built up company capability in the areas of staffing, governance, structure and new systems.

NZTE has been working with the company to help build its capability, for example in developing new markets.

When Foreman purchased NZN in 2005, the company was in trouble and operated in just nine countries. In 2006 NZN’s exports accounted for 21 percent of its total revenue. Today exports have grown to 48 percent.

Turning NZN around has been “about using New Zealand to sell the product, after all where better in the world to grow the best milk to make the best ice-cream than New Zealand, Foreman says.

“We have had to ensure very tight processes and absolute efficiencies in our manufacturing.”

The company’s $1 million annual investment in R&D “plays a massive part in giving us an advantage”. This ensures it produces new and exciting ice-cream flavours, such as Kiwi Pavlova. This best-selling and multiple award-winning ice-cream was Foreman’s idea for a signature ice-cream unique to New Zealand.

On a final note Foreman shares some tips for other exporters: "Do the basics extremely well, build strong relationships and know the country and its culture you intend on targeting inside and out."