Wednesday, May 23rd, 2001
Waikato's Tatua Foods creamed the competition in last night's Australasian Aerosol Awards presented at Sydney's
Wentworth Hotel.
Butter Oil Mist(tm) - butter in an aerosol - took away the award for Creativity and Innovation, while the company
overall won the award for Export Achievement.
Tatua began its aerosol cream operation almost twenty years ago and now exports 90 percent of their production to
markets in Australia, South America, South-East Asia and South Africa. Exports of specialty aerosols have grown 45 per
cent in the last four years.
Butter Oil Mist(tm) is the result of extensive R & D utilising butter fractionation technology originally developed for spreadable butter.
The company's extensive expertise in food product filling and flavour stabilisation developed the product to meet
industry demand for a food service pan spray that imparts natural butter flavours at higher cooking temperatures without
the risk of burning associated with clarified butter.
The company makes a major investment in innovation, developing new flavours and low-fat formulations to keep up with
changing market demands. Its chocolate flavoured aerosol mousse desert cream won a SIAL D'OR product innovation award in
1992. Mousse flavours such as brandy, and honey and macadamia have also been developed. Offshore promotions are tailored
for cultural events such as the Chinese New Year.
For the Butter Oil Mist product development Tatua worked with Hamilton-based contract packer Rad Pack Ltd to establish a
purpose built filling facility that would meet MAF's rigorous export standards.
The product has met strong demand at retail, food service and bakery sector levels. Exports are planned to commence
within the next three months.
The Australasian Aerosol Industry Awards are organised by the Aerosol Association of Australia in conjunction with the
Aerosol Association of New Zetland. The Awards recognize excellence across areas such as environmental performance,
decoration, marketing and export achievement.
"The Awards acknowledge the issues confronting today's industry", said Philip Fleming, the Association's executive
director.
"We were ahead of our time in introducing an Award for showing leadership by recognising local government support for
aerosol and steel can recycling.
"Now we are going further and looking at other aspects of environmental performance and innovation which are crucial
factors in ensuring we have a competitive and vibrant industry."