For someone who began life in a motor camp, Brian Hirst is justifiably proud of Tasman Bay Food which he describes as a tiny company punching well above its weight.
Now the 75-year-old has written a book, Life of Brian, that traces his journey from those early days in a motor camp, where his family lived while they waited for a state house, to the Juicies and Moosies that put the Brightwater company on the map. He attributes his success to perseverance and a “couple of lucky breaks” after leaving school at 15 and getting a few skills under his belt in farming and horticulture.
The book is not just about Tasman Bay Food though; it’s also a story about the era he has lived, from growing up in the 50s and 60s, surviving business during the crash of ‘87 and into a far more complex world.
“I grew up in an age where there were no computers, and everything was done with a calculator and handwritten invoices. We had telexes and landlines.”
His business foray began with his first wife, Heather, when they planted grapes on a gorse-covered block of land at Ruby Bay and turned the fruit into juice. That led on to a share in Stoke-based Robinson Bros that produced fruit juices and wine.
The business developed the first casks of juices in the country and then wine coolers, which were a popular sparkly drink of the 80s.
Offshore borrowing saved the company when the 1987 share market crisis hit, coming at a time they had borrowed heavily to set up another bottling facility.
Fast forward to 2008 when Brian had bought out the last shareholder of Robinson Bros and moved to Brightwater to set up Tasman Bay Food Co. It now employs about 45 people, with one daughter, Marina Hirst-Tristram, chairing the board and his other daughter, Ainslie Pomeroy, as administrator.
“We’re growing organically, but still a relatively small family company. We make a lot of products though – over a million products a week.”
The original products, icy Juicies and then Moosies, are still the biggest part of the business, but there’s also the bakery on site for school canteens and Speedway Sauce which was developed to turn the apple pomace left over from juicing, into chutney.
Winning an international award in Europe for Juicies back in 1992 gave that product a huge boost and Brian says its success is due to the healthy focus that drives the business. That means sugar-free juice and bakery products that “err on healthy”.
Juicies were created for school canteens after a nutritionist requested a sugar-free product. The main ingredient is Nelson-pressed apples and they are now in supermarkets as well and sold in eight other countries. One thing he is really passionate about is retaining New Zealand ownership, at a time when more and more companies are moving into overseas ownership.
“The largest part of our product is New Zealand made and we are a New Zealand-owned company and I’m very proud of that.
“I’m absolutely determined to keep it as a New Zealand company. I am very passionate about it and if more New Zealanders studied the supermarket shelves to see who owns what, they might get a shock.”
These days, Brian is not working onsite but is in charge of special projects for Tasman Bay Food. His book was on his to-do list and has been a two-year project with pen and paper, before getting it edited by a niece, printed by CopyPress and then publishing it himself. Copies are at CopyPress and local Paper Plus stores.
