It’s a happy tenth birthday for Pure Bottling, the world-class beverage manufacturing company with a love for iconic Kiwi drinks.
There’s plenty to celebrate at Pure Bottling’s Tauranga-based enterprise, where beverages, sports drinks, kombucha, juices, mixers and alcohol are all manufactured - canned or bottled and sent on their merry way to happy consumers.
Over the years, the company has become the manufacturer of choice for about 30 brands. Pure Bottling’s head of beverages, Andrew Friedlieb, said more than 200 brands have come through the factory, “which shows how hard it is”.
Impressive brand names are associated with this enterprise. Pure Bottling markets drinks for clients like Almighty, Alchemy & Tonic, Mac’s Soda, BATCHED, Stil Vodka, Lo Bros, AF Drinks, Arepa and No Ugly, and many more.
Some of the brands Pure Bottling is involved with have fabulous stories to tell, like their very first Karma Drinks and Almighty Beverages. Pure Bottling started manufacturing products for these successful enterprises nine years ago. Both are now multi-million-dollar brands selling across New Zealand and Australia.
Lo Bros is one of New Zealand’s leading kombucha producers and AF drinks, an alcohol alternative recently launched in the US. Arepa and No Ugly are both popular wellness tonics.
The genesis of Alchemy & Tonic dates back to COVID-19 times. This relatively new-kid-on-the-block is enjoying speedy growth. It is, in fact, the fastest-growing mixer brand in Australia and New Zealand.
Alcohol-producing clients include premium cocktail brand BATCHED, the real hero of which is its espresso martini. With its “bringing the bar to you” tagline, this premium New Zealand mixer sells to the New Zealand and Australian markets and is about to break into the US.
At the same time, Stil Vodka and its vodka production uses water from the Bay of Plenty and competes with some big-name imported vodkas.
Friedlieb said Pure Bottling’s decade in business is a good time to reflect upon and celebrate its much-valued involvement with iconic Kiwi brands producing “really cool stuff”.
“The connectivity of New Zealand business is close. So much of New Zealand’s quality beverages come out of Tauranga, despite the fact Pure Bottling competes against other very well-funded Auckland-based manufacturers.”
At the Tauranga headquarters, staff numbers sit at about 55, and Friedlieb is tickled by the fact his team includes three generations, with staff who have worked their way up from the factory floor.
“We really like that we provide employment to our local population, many of whom walk to work.”
Ten years on, and there’s no resting on laurels. Just six months ago, Pure Bottling put in a new can-filling line – a multi-million-dollar investment made in response to the massive growth in demand for aluminium cans.
It also invested in the installation of a new ERP software programme, which is about managing the information between manufacturing and systems.
“We have really ambitious growth plans and are hunting for new customers to fill that growth.”
