Napier team celebrates business award win

26th November 2015

Napier team celebrates business award win

The Ravensdown team is celebrating its win at the Hawkes Bay Chamber of Commerce Awards where the farmer co-operative clinched the Large Business Award for 2015.

Regional Manager Jamie Thompson sums up: “In the Hawkes Bay region we have several stores, a spreading venture, customer contact centre, laboratory and, of course, our superphosphate manufacturing plant. The whole team can take pride in this acknowledgement of its contribution to the Hawkes Bay economy.”

Judges were impressed by the very clear understanding of how technology can accelerate business success, good implementation of health and safety practices and the strong focus on people development.

“Like any long-established business, there’s a danger of being taken for granted. But those who depend on us, such as local farmers, port workers, transporters and service businesses, all know the importance of a successful Ravensdown. There’s no resting on laurels though, we are in the middle of a busy year and are putting all our efforts into helping farmers reach their goals,” concluded Jamie.

KEY FACTS ABOUT RAVENSDOWN IN NAPIER

1. The seven-hectare manufacturing plant has been operational since 1953, ISO 9001 quality accredited since 1996 and ISO 14001 environmentally accredited since 1998. It is the largest superphosphate manufacturing plant in New Zealand with products being applied across nearly one million hectares of farmland throughout the North Island.

2. Analytical Research Laboratories conducts some 70,000 soil tests a year and also water, plant and tissue analysis so that farmers can make decisions based on accurate data.

3. In 2014, the Napier site received GE’s “Return on Environment” award for its systems to control legionella risk, continued its asbestos removal programme and began a regrassing and planting initiative.

4. These days the business doesn’t just make fertiliser. Award-winning mapping technology, laser tracking measurements of grass growth, nutrient modelling software, precision spreading services and algorithms to help calculate soil nutrient status from the air, are just some of the tools available to its 24,000 customers.

5. The heat which is a by-product of the manufacturing process is channelled into a 6.5 megawatt generator. At full production, Napier is capable of being totally self-sufficient in energy requirements, or can feed enough electricity into the national grid to power around an eighth of all the houses in Napier.

ENDS

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