BUSINESS INNOVATION AWARD 2021
Terry Duff and Robyn Cuddon (Cuddon Engineering) with Zoe Thompson, Barbara Wiltshire, Andy Wiltshire, Stuart Harris and Sadie Harris (Pinoli Premium Pine Nuts)
PINOLI PREMIUM PINE NUTS
Winner: Business Innovation Award
Sponsored by Cuddon Engineering
Establishing Pinoli Premium Pine Nuts has been an exercise in patience and problem-solving which is now paying off in a high quality, low-waste nut crop ideally suited to Marlborough’s dry conditions.
The Pinoli team has created a new industry for New Zealand after extensive research overseas to source the best-suited stone pine species from Europe.
Sustainability is at the core of the business - the stone pine is drought resistant, the trees control erosion and sequester carbon throughout their 100-year lifespan, and all waste product and prunings are turned into mulch or firewood or sold for biofuel.
Pinoli Premium Pine Nuts is a business that shows good things take time. It has taken more than 20 years to grow the trees and build the factory to reach current production level, but they’ve proven this is the right tree in the right place. And the nuts are delicious.