Prolife Foods LTD
Deep in the heart of Te Rapa lies one of the quiet achievers of the Hamilton – and New Zealand – business community. For the past 27 years, Prolife Foods have been quietly and determinedly carving their place among the family business success stories of this country.
It all began in 1984, when Bernie and Kaye Crosby started Prolife from their garage in Hamilton. Repayment of a debt in kind saw Bernie take possession of a large quantity of dried apricots – Prolife Foods’ first product. A man with an entrepreneurial spirit and a work ethic to match his bevy of good ideas, Bernie packed the apricots into the boot of his car and proceeded to sell them to health shops around the Waikato.
Today, Prolife Foods processes the entire New Zealand dried apricot crop at its Te Rapa premises, and are significant suppliers of quality food products in the grocery and bulk foods categories. They supply customers the length and breadth of New Zealand and employ some 450 people.
Within the story of those first dried apricots are many of the Prolife Foods secrets to success. Hard work, entrepreneurism, long standing relationships, a willingness to continually innovate and a self-professed obsession with delivering great service have all played their part.
Having successfully emptied their car boot and garage of apricots, the Crosby’s slowly grew their product range. A born salesman, Bernie took the product to the customer, while Kaye looked after finance, logistics and human resources. The company turned apricots into $100,000 in their first year and it wasn’t long before Bernie made his first masterstroke; he recognised that growth lay in the supermarkets. So he developed the bulk foods model; taking them from a rudimentary offering to something of much higher quality in the process. Prolife Foods developed a partnership with the iconic New Zealand chef Alison Holst and the Alison’s Pantry brand was born.
Bernie and Kaye also realised the enormous potential in selling nuts. An excellent raw product, Prolife Foods added value by roasting them and putting in place systems to guarantee they were always delivered fresh and of fantastic quality. In 1990 the Value Pack brand was launched, and was another step in the company’s growth. The Value Pack brand is built on quality ingredients that speak for themselves; plain packaging allows the customer to see exactly what they are getting – fantastic quality nuts, snacks and baking ingredients.
Prolife Foods’ next major milestone was the acquisition of Mother Earth from Cadbury in 2008. The philosophy surrounding this brand is the production of delicious, wholesome natural food and products include dried fruit, nuts, and fruit and muesli bars. Within the last twelve months, Prolife Foods have introduced Mother Earth to the highly competitive Australian market, where it is making good headway and gaining ground.
The most recent addition to the Prolife Foods family has been another family business in April 2011, when they bought Donovan’s Chocolates. Already familiar with their product, sited just down the road, and with a similar culture, Donovan’s represented a very good fit for Prolife Foods and the acquisition has gone well.
The 4 key brands of Alison’s Pantry, Value Pack, Mother Earth and Donovan’s Chocolates represent Prolife’s major milestones seen in the marketplace. Other key business markers have included the move into the company’s Maui Street premises. When they arrived 11 years ago, the whole Prolife operation took up a fraction of the enormous building, in the then-unpopulated North Te Rapa. Today, they are extending the premises to accommodate their growth, but the future-proofing of their real estate was an insightful decision.
Kaye and Bernie Crosby chose to step down from the day to day running of Prolife in 2005 and 2006 respectively but continue to be actively involved in all decisions at Board level. Andrew Smith has been the CEO of Prolife Foods for 3 years, arriving from an international career spanning New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. In addition to carrying on the Crosby’s work, he has added some of the larger scale business structures and processes he knew from time with companies such as Fonterra, Unilever and Procter and Gamble. In his hands, the Prolife Foods turnover has grown from $60million – $100million.
Continual development and the creation of new ideas has been a common theme for Prolife Foods in its 27 year history, as has continual learning. The grocery market requires continual development; a requirement well-suited to Bernie Crosby. Never short of ideas, his most successful business moves have been accompanied by literally hundreds of other ideas that did not succeed, but each idea has played its part in honing and developing the overall Prolife offering.
Today, Andrew Smith cites the company’s monthly new product tastings as some of their team’s most enjoyable time, and says that their people’s passion and will to succeed matched with genuinely great products are part of what makes Prolife Foods special. People are a key part of the organisation’s success, with their focus on service and strong customer relationships. Several staff have been with Prolife Foods since it began and other Crosby family members are also involved.
The success of this New Zealand family-owned company in an industry dominated by large international players is undoubtedly a special story. Ingenuity, enthusiasm, dedication, and insightful thinking make Prolife Foods a Kiwi success story to be proud of. Nothing is surer than the company will continue to innovate and look forward. We look forward to seeing where they develop next.