Best business operating internationally – under $10m

New Zealand assessment and examination company ASPEQ built its reputation in the high-stakes aviation sector, but is now branching out to deliver tests for a range of industries.

New Zealand assessment and examination company ASPEQ built its reputation in the high-stakes aviation sector, but is now branching out to deliver assessment services across a range of industries including maritime, land transport, building and financial services.

ASPEQ delivers its assessment services such as flight tests for commercial pilots and engineers in New Zealand and at international locations including Australia, Singapore, Macau, Mauritius, Tonga, the Cook Islands and Hong Kong.

Aviation examinations were the foundation of ASPEQ’s business and Chief Executive Bruce Heesterman says the company uses examinations for pilots and aircraft engineers as its beachhead products in new offshore locations.

“We use aviation as an international spearhead into markets because the language of aviation is English and customers do not need convincing on the regulated nature and high safety requirements of aviation.”

ASPEQ’s customers are typically industry regulators or training organisations which set and monitor compliance of candidate’s learning against prescribed syllabi. Examples of top clients include maritime and civil aviation authorities.

Regulators have differing needs and styles, requiring an agile response. Some assessments are delivered in-country by a locally-registered subsidiary company, while others are supplied online with helpdesk support in New Zealand.

The global market for high-stakes examinations and assessments is about $100 million, of which ASPEQ currently holds nine percent market share. It is aiming to secure 24 percent market share within three years.

Since the business was established in 1992 it has delivered more than 500,000 exams to 150,000 candidates in seven countries. It employs more than 300 full and part-time staff in New Zealand and Australia.

Revenue in the 2011 financial year was $9 million, half of which came from export earnings. ASPEQ’s international success flows to other parts of the economy through work contracted for IT, accounting, legal, marketing and travel services.

BioVittoria has built sweet success out of an iconic Chinese crop, the luo han guo or monk fruit. 

Hamilton-based BioVittoria has harnessed the calorie-free sweetness of China’s little-known monk fruit to create an all-natural food sweetener.

The apple-sized fruit with a faintly-striped green skin is traditionally grown in small orchards on steep mountainsides but BioVittoria is taking monk fruit global. This year the company has distributed around one million seedlings to nearly 5,000 Chinese farmers who are contracted to supply fruit. This is processed to make a calorie-free, all-natural powdered sweetener called Fruit-Sweetness™.

BioVittoria already has a marketing and distribution agreement with one of the world’s largest food ingredient companies, Tate & Lyle, and it is the first natural sweetener of its type to achieve United States FDA regulatory compliance through its Generally Recognized As Safe (“GRAS”) status.

This status positions BioVittoria to compete in the US$50 billion per annum world sweetener market, focusing on the United States.

BioVittoria’s Chief Executive David Thorrold says the obesity epidemic is recognised as a major health issue in the United States and diabetes is a growing concern in the developed world. The World Health Organisation estimates 360 million people worldwide will have diabetes by 2030.

“Mounting government and consumer pressure has led to food and beverage companies increasingly searching for an all-natural, zero-calorie alternative to sugar, corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners. Fruit-Sweetness™ is well positioned to win a significant share of the natural sweetener market."

Fruit-Sweetness™ is aimed at food and beverage manufacturers who want to reduce sugar and calories while meeting consumer demand for more natural foods.

The company was established in 2003 as a product development and marketing company and celebrated its first international sale in 2005. It has doubled its revenue each of the past three years, to US$7.9 million in 2011.

In the past three years, Christchurch’s Energy Mad has grown its international focus from a single customer providing just two percent of revenue, to 27 customers accounting for 93 percent of revenue.

Christchurch-based Energy Mad’s vision is to “make lives better by saving enough electricity to power Europe”.

The company was established in 2004 and it started out aiming to save enough electricity to power Christchurch. As the business grew, it adjusted its vision to New Zealand. Now, Energy Mad’s sights are set on a Europe-sized electricity saving.

Managing director Chris Mardon says electricity savings make lives better through reductions of carbon dioxide, consumer electricity bills, and the need for new electricity generation.

Each Energy Mad Ecobulb saves consumers up to $240 over its life and boasts a lifespan 15 times that of a traditional incandescent bulb. Today, 57 percent of New Zealand homes have Ecobulbs installed.

Overseas, Ecobulbs sold in Australia, the United States, Germany, Spain, Ireland, China, the Cook Islands and Fiji have generated the following customer benefits: total electricity savings of $2.8 billion over the life of the bulbs; total electricity savings over their lives equal to 23 percent of the electricity used by New Zealand last year; 8.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide reductions over their lives, equal to eight months of carbon emissions from all the vehicles in New Zealand.

Mr Mardon says Energy Mad’s international revenue has grown from $92,000 and one customer in 2009, to $8.025 million and 27 customers in 2011.

Three years ago, international sales accounted for just two percent of Energy Mad’s revenue. Today, international sales are 93 percent of total revenue.

The business continues its swift growth curve – this year listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange to fund further growth - and Mr Mardon says revenue is projected to pass $18 million in 2013.

Dunedin-based gas fireplace designers and manufacturers Escea set out to create appliances which are both energy efficient and elegantly designed.

Escea manufactures and markets a range of “beautifully efficient” gas fireplaces from its Dunedin base.

Revenue in 2011 was $8.4 million, of which $2.6 million was earned internationally. The company has enjoyed growth of around 50 percent in each of the past five years and chief executive Nigel Bamford expects 2012 export earnings to surpass domestic earnings for the first time.

“We first started selling into Australia in 2007 and this has since become our largest export market. Our entry into Australia was within two years of us building our first gas fireplace ever and we followed this same aggressive growth and export strategy two years later by launching into the USA with our outdoor gas fireplace model.”

The company has a savvy sales culture. It is dedicated to digital marketing, which shows in increasing web traffic and sales lead generation. Escea has put each of its 45 staff through a nationally-recognised competitive manufacturing course and they are all familiar with the company’s short-term goal to double its current sales by 2014.

To achieve this growth, Escea has met the challenging economic conditions of recent years head on: doubling its investment in research and development to $1 million a year.

“This will deliver us some very special new models to underpin our export growth in coming years.”

Since it was established in 2002, Escea’s innovations have effectively cornered the market. Already the number one brand of gas fireplace sold in New Zealand, Escea is actively marketing its gas fireplaces internationally as it works towards becoming a global business.

“Escea stand out as experts in both efficient heating technology and high fashion fireplace aesthetics. Our competitors tend to be attractive or efficient, we are both,” Bamford says.

“At Escea we do not make gas appliances – we make Furniture with Flames.”

Nimble Kiwi company Fastmount^TM was established to meet the demanding requirements of the superyacht sector and created a whole new category for removable panel mounting systems.

Boatbuilder Gregg Kelly was working on the interior fit-outs of superyachts when he recognised the potential for a new business.

Prior to Fastmount^TM, panels mounted in the ceilings and walls of the yachts were unable to be precisely or securely positioned, were damaged in frequent falls, and it was time-consuming to mount them.

Together, directors Gregg Kelly and Ron Hanley recognised a business opportunity in mounting removable panels and Fastmount was born, creating an entirely new category in the marine industry.

The multi-award winning Fastmount system is designed in New Zealand, and determinedly manufactured locally.

Mr Kelly says the company’s focus on social responsibility meant a conscious decision to contract and work with New Zealanders.

“Manufacturing and assembly is done in South Auckland and West Auckland. Specifically, it is our social and cultural responsibility to support local communities.”

Environmental responsibility is addressed through offices located in the company directors’ homes, ensuring the company’s footprint is kept to a minimum.

Fellow director, Ron Hanley says the business has a unique flat company structure with no chief executive or hierarchy.

 “Together we set the direction, goals and targets gaining commitment as individuals and as a team.”

Fastmount was established in 2004, and has over 80 percent of earnings oveseas. The company’s largest markets are the United Kingdom, Italy and Turkey.

While the marine sector was the company’s initial target, Fastmount has now identified opportunities in architecture, aeronautics and recreational vehicles.

Graham Lodge, development manager for top-selling Sunseeker International Limited, says Fastmount has provided a complete solution in securing deckhead, ceiling, wall panels and even cockpit upholstery.

“We use them throughout the entire Sunseeker range from our Sports Cruisers to the very latest superyachts.”