ENS awards recognise business excellence

Drizzle and wind did not deter 750 people from turning up for the 2010 Westpac Enterprise North Shore Business Excellence Awards at the North Shore Events Centre on Friday night. A who’s who of the shore’s business community graced the red carpet for the glamorous black tie event.

Hosted by actor and television personality Oliver Driver, the awards were the largest held in the 13 year history of the event. Super City Mayoral candidates Andrew Williamson, Len Brown and John Banks were among guests to recognise business excellence in North Shore City and Rodney.

Food production company, EasiYo Products Limited, walked away with the prestigious overall Westpac Supreme Business Excellence Award supreme honours as well as the Spyglass Excellence in Exporting Award.

EasiYo is believed to be the biggest premium, homemade yogurt in the world, with over 1.3 million yogurt makers in homes globally, a fact that didn’t escape the judges attention.

The 2010 awards judges recognised EasiYo as an exceptional business making an outstanding contribution to New Zealand.

“EasiYo is passionate about growing their organisation through innovation and determination, and the entire company goes the extra mile for their customers,” convenor of judges Matthew Bellingham said. “They exceed their financial goals while also ensuring that their culture and principles are held high. EasiYo truly sets the standard as an exceptional supreme winner.”

EasiYo is a North Shore export success story. Starting in 1992 from humble beginnings selling at the Auckland Home Show, EasiYo has grown to top $30 million sales by 2009, 75 per cent of which is export based. Their secret lies behind years of research and development, firstly into the yogurt maker, then finding the right milk powder and freeze dried culture to ensure 100 per cent setting of the incubated yogurt at home.

Consumers love the delicious taste, the three-minute preparation time, the cost effectiveness, the versatility, and the nutritional benefit of making fresh yogurt with four to six times more live cultures than its chilled competition.