Best business – over $50m

Education consultancy Cognition Education has grown annual international sales from $9 million to more than $60 million during the past four years. This achievement is due to its success in exporting its consultancy services to the Gulf States.

The independent education consultancy has been working internationally since 1990, providing educational reform support, policy development, professional capability and school improvement projects.

Chief Executive Dr John Langley says Cognition has been deeply involved in the implementation of reform that has taken place in New Zealand’s education system during the past two decades and is using that expertise to help other countries develop solutions that meet their needs.

“Last year we had more than 300 employees in the Gulf States. We worked with more than 130 schools in the region and had a direct impact on 50,000 students there.”

The company has achieved outstanding success in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, winning business against competitors from many other nations, including the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. It has recently had projects underway in the Gulf States, North America, Southeast Asia, and Australasia.

Dr Langley says Cognition has earned a reputation for being the best quality provider with the most highly qualified staff.

“We developed ourselves as a top end provider in our field. We absolutely believe in the quality of what we produce, the people who deliver that and the way we go about doing what we do.”

He says relationships and partnerships are also important to Cognition’s success.

“Cultural sensitivity and understanding is extremely important to our clients. We don’t impose solutions. Instead, we work collaboratively with our clients so that reforms are sustainable in the long-term and that there is a sense of ownership in the reforms within the communities in which we work.”

www.cognition.co.nz

From humble beginnings in the basement of founder Claude Stratford’s home in 1974, to being one of the first companies to list on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2003, Comvita has developed steadily and surely into a premium global natural health brand.

Headquartered  in Paengaroa in the Bay of Plenty, the company has enjoyed a compound annual growth rate over the past five years of 25 percent, says Chief Executive Officer Brett Hewlett.

The world’s largest manufacturers and marketers of Manuka honey, Comvita produces a range of natural health products for the woundcare, healthcare, skincare and functional foods markets, selling its products in more than 14 countries.

“One of the keys to our international success is our very effective products, which are proven to work when they face the ultimate test – in the hands of our consumers,” says Mr Hewlett.

Comvita has had particular success in Asia, where it has pursued a strategy to get closer to its consumers.

“In Hong Kong we have five stand-alone Comvita stores in key locations and more than 40 Comvita store-in-stores. In the past seven years we have expanded the number of Comvita-branded outlets in China to over 300 in more than 40 cities.”

The company recently opened its first stand-alone retail stores in the United Kingdom.

“Controlling our route to market and getting closer to our consumers has provided us with a distinct and ongoing business advantage,” explains Mr Hewlett. “Through our global offices in Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom we can build in-market relationships. It can also allow us immediate distribution of new products and continuous real-time market feedback.”

Mr Hewlett says Comvita’s global staff are committed to continuous improvement and to further integrating environmental, social and economic best practices into the business.

www.comvita.com

Douglas Pharmaceuticals is successfully winning business against multi-billion dollar competitors, focusing on low volume, high value exports and earning a reputation for producing specialised “hard to do” products.

The company’s export business focuses on the development, licensing and supply of Douglas developed generic medicines and dietary supplements. It is currently selling over 16 different generic products to more than 35 countries with Australia and Europe being its major markets.

Managing Director Sir Graeme Douglas says the core element of its international strategy – and one that enables it to compete effectively with multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical giants – has been a niche focus on specific manufacturing technologies and distinct therapeutic categories including dermatology, oncology, central nervous system and immunosuppressants.

He also says the future patent expiries over the next two to three years will continue to provide Douglas with good opportunities to drive its growth.

“Early market entry, in combination with an internationally competitive cost of goods, has been fundamental to maximising our market share. For example, we were the first to launch a viable alternative to an innovator manufactured acne treatment in the European market.”

Given its relatively small scale, to retain a comparative advantage Douglas reinvests significantly into new R&D. During the past five years it has developed a large pipeline of new product concepts and generic medicines which are targeted for launch into the largest markets in the world.

Sir Graeme says the company’s low cost and high effective model of licensing and supply has allowed rapid growth and coverage across multiple markets without the cost of establishing its own in-market distribution arrangements.

He says outstanding customer service and the operation of a highly effective supply chain, together with its understanding of product needs and technological capability, are also keys to Douglas’s growing international success.

www.douglas.co.nz

Pumpkin Patch is generating annual sales of close to $400 million, more than 80 percent from international markets as it pursues its vision of being a truly global kidswear brand.

During the past 20 years the company has grown from a mail order business operated out of a garage to an international business, its products sold in more than 527 locations, of which 230 are company-owned stores.

“We have done what few, if any other specialty apparel brands have managed to do, exported our iconic Kiwi brand into 22 markets around the globe,” says Chief Financial Officer Matthew Washington. Today Pumpkin Patch is being worn by kids in Australia, United States and the United Kingdom, and in the fast developing markets of the Middle East, India, China and Malaysia.

He says global expansion has been achieved through a mix of channels – from its own retail stores and e-commerce, to department stores, and franchise partners.

Technology is seen as vital to global growth and Pumpkin Patch’s continuing large investment in this area continues to result in innovative and efficient solutions to delivering the products in the right place at the right time.

Design is also core to its success, with the company launching quality, unique children’s clothing on a regular basis – typically with new styles flowing into stores weekly.

“Our design prowess has resulted in a line of children’s clothing that's instantly recognisable as Pumpkin Patch,” says Mr Washington. “We are continually looking to improve on our designs and monitor closely the success of lines to see what sells well and what doesn’t.”

Pumpkin Patch’s innovative business approach is visible through the number of ranges that they produce for international markets and in the way they put their collections together and display them in stores. This means that someone who comes in for a skirt may end up buying a complete outfit as it’s easy to see how everything fits together.

This company is also a finalist in the Best use of design in international business category, and the Most innovative approach to international business category.

The New Zealand Merino Company Limited (NZM) is an integrated sales, marketing and innovation company for nature’s performance fibre, New Zealand Merino.

Established in 2001, NZM was a small levy funded organisation with an annual turnover of $5 million, recalls Chief Executive John Brakenridge.

Today NZM has turnover of $115 million per year and is a fully commercial company, generating between $10 and $15 million annually in additional value for New Zealand Merino growers.

NZM’s has been so successful that it is now starting to run out of wool. Rather than look for offshore supply, NZM has embarked on a $36 million project over five years, in association with the Government’s Primary Growth Partnership, where wool will be grown for specific retail markets and the NZM model will be extended to a range of other income streams for New Zealand sheep farmers such as meat, lanolin and leather goods. 

NZM’s philosophy is ‘to do things differently’ and to challenge the very traditional wool industry in order to achieve its objectives. In doing so it has lifted New Zealand Merino fibre out of the commodity basket, differentiating it from its competitors and won clients in the highest end of the fashion market including SmartWool in the US, Loro Piana, Reda and John Smedley in Europe, Nikke in Japan and Icebreaker in New Zealand.

“Although a tiny resource by international standards, we have positioned New Zealand Merino for its scarcity value, backed by a marketing story played out against a spectacular high-country backdrop,” says Mr Brakenridge.

NZM’s business model is to develop sustainable relationships in the marketplace and create customised marketing programmes with their brand partners. Today half of NZM’s sales are through direct supply contracts, rather than auction, which Mr. Brakenridge says provides growers with price stability and sustainability.

Furthermore NZM created the Zque brand of New Zealand Merino fibre. Zque gives confidence to retailers and consumers that the fibre was produced with standards around stewardship of livestock, management of the environment and socially responsible practices, and that the resulting products are of the highest quality.

This company is also a finalist in the Most innovative approach to international business category.

www.nzmerino.co.nz