Tuatara Strikes Gold

Each year, the Wellington Gold Awards recognise the very best in Wellington business. Run in association with the Dominion Post, they have become the region’s premier business awards. Last year, we were delighted to be selected as a finalist in the Emerging Gold (smaller enterprises) category. On May 18 2011, we went one better when Tuatara Brewing Company won the Emerging Gold award.

To do so, we had to compete against a worthy group of finalists - Celcius Coffee, Corner Solutions International, Shott Beverages and Urban Harvest. Congratulations to them for their success in reaching the finals. Our thanks also go to the Dominion Post for supporting the awards and the ANZ for sponsoring our category.

The eleven Wellington Gold awards were presented over the course of a (very) long glitzy gala event at the TSB arena. The overall winner was Mesynthes, the company which developed a hi-tech, stable tissue substitute to help people with burns or severe skin conditions. They also won the Discovering Gold category which recognised the best research and development work. Wellington business legend Lloyd Morrison was also recognised in a tribute.

Director Sean Murrie accepted the Emerging Gold award on behalf of the Tuatara team. Our category was one of the first to be announced and Sean had barely sat down before being called up on stage to accept the prize. Looking very sharp in his rarely seen suit, he delivered a succinct speech thanking the staff, customers and judges for the company’s continued success. It would turn out to be one of the shortest speeches of the evening by a considerable margin.

Speaking after the event, Sean said he believed the award was based on a number of inter-linked aspects of the company. He felt the judges were impressed by the fast growth rate of Tuatara, significant increases both in production and distribution, a boost in staff numbers, greater customer awareness of the brand, a move into exporting and positive media coverage, all achieved while keeping the beer quality high.

So, we are delighted with the award which will take pride of place at Tuatara HQ. We want to thank all our customers and suppliers who are the heroes of our organisation – without you guys this never would have been possible. We cannot enter Emerging Gold again so next year we may need to have a little look round and see if there is another category we might compete in – watch this space.

Cheers from the team at Tuatara