Booster Wine Group
The ethos behind Tahi is partnership. It’s not just about investing money. It’s also about contributing strategic thinking and creating access to opportunities that advantage our partners, so they can grow even more. It was this strategic approach that led to the formation of Tahi's newest asset, the Booster Wine Group.
It just so happened that the first business Tahi invested in was a wine business – the Awatere River Wine Company, founded by Louis Vavasour.
The wine industry is notoriously difficult, especially when you're small. By combining the business smarts at Booster with Louis’ wine expertise, the team quickly identified opportunities to put together a group of companies that covered the supply chain end-to-end and gave them the all-important scale to produce quality wine profitably and efficiently.
First came Waimea Estate. As one of Nelson’s largest wine producers, the strategy was given an immediate boost in scale.
Then came Bannock Brae in Central Otago, creating a beachhead in another viticulture area of New Zealand with a strong international reputation and adding a top Pinot Noir offering to the product range.
Next was Sileni Estates, the largest of the additions to the group. Founded by the Avery family, the addition of Sileni Estates boosted scale and importantly, contributed established global distribution channels in over 60 countries around the world – a key success factor in an industry that is export focused.
The addition of Sileni Estates, and the purchase of Mahana Estate's state-of-the-art wine-making facilities (now called Gravity) completed the original strategy, and the Booster Wine Group was formed.
Gravity's world-class wine production facility is where the Booster Wine Group will produce its premium and super-premium wines. It serves as home base for the team of passionate people leading the wine group, driven by their common quest to craft the best wines NZ has to offer and take them to the world.
By combining the strengths of the companies in the Booster Wine Group, Tahi was able to give each business access to resources and synergies that money alone couldn't buy. Now operating together as one, these successful Kiwi businesses have the scale, capability and resources to supply the world with their ultimate line up of New Zealand wines.
The formation of the Booster Wine Group means that Booster investors now own a slice of an asset which was created for their benefit and is set to deliver ongoing value for all.
Awatere River Wine Company
Louis Vavasour is a Marlborough boy with a proud family tradition of making top-notch wines. Since he set up the Awatere River Wine Company (ARWC) in 2007, it's gone from strength to strength, winning awards and fans galore.
When we met Louis and heard how hard it was for him to grow his business, we were inspired to set up the Tahi fund.
Before Tahi, Louis worried about being able to afford enough high-quality grapes and the best equipment to continue making first-class wines. Now, he buys premium grapes and can make more exceptional wines in a huge, cutting-edge winery.
Booster Tahi became partners with the Awatere River Wine Company in April 2017.
Waimea Estates
A family business, Waimea Estates has been winning awards since its very first wine in 1997. Waimea Estates is one of Nelson's largest wine producers, making Waimea Estate and Spinyback wines. The Bolitho family wanted to pass the business to a new partner who would grow and care for their legacy. Joining forces with ARWC means we can build on Waimea Estates’ record of success to safeguard the company’s future.
Waimea Estates was Tahi's second partner, following on from our partnership with Awatere River Wine Company.
Sileni Estates
Previously owned by the Avery Family Trust, Sileni Estates has been in operation for over 20 years. Renowned for its quality, Sileni wines are distributed in over 60 countries.
At its peak, Sileni Estates produced 700,000 cases of wine. With Tahi’s investment, and the expertise and resources of the Booster Wine Group, Sileni’s operations have been revitalised.
Gravity Winery
Gravity's world-class wine production facility is where the Booster Wine Group produces its super-premium wines. Serving as home base for the passionate team of collective wineries leading the wine group, they’re driven by a common quest to craft the best wines New Zealand has to offer and introduce them to the world.
Darling Group
Established by Andrew Darling, Darling Group is a family-run, New Zealand-based ‘land to consumer’ grower and supplier of fresh produce to both the domestic and international markets.
Darling Group comprises of several integrated business units:
- Just Avocados, New Zealand’s third largest avocado exporter
- JH Leavy & Co., a significant produce wholesaling, conditioning, and logistics company in Brisbane
- Zeafruit, a marketer of avocados and citrus to New Zealand retail
- Avoworks, an avocado, kiwifruit and blueberry orchard development and services company
As well as working with third party-growers in New Zealand, Australia, USA, Mexico, Chile and Peru, Darling Group also procures from a range of owned or managed orchards, providing an end-to-end service from orchard development and management through harvest, packing, cool storage and logistics through to distribution to end retail.
Their global supply network ensures consistency of quality and volume to the marketplace for 12 months of the year.
With a focus on supplying New Zealand’s major supermarket chains with avocado and citrus all year round, chances are you’ll be eating fresh produce either grown or sourced and supplied by the Darling Group.
Tahi’s investment will enable Darling Group to invest in further supply chain infrastructure and capability and continue their pathway of a fully integrated business in the international horticulture industry.
Tahi and Darling Group became partners in July 2021.
Lifetime
Headquartered in Christchurch, Lifetime is a financial services company with 14 locations across New Zealand - providing financial advice for more than 100,000 clients since they first started in the 1980's.
Lifetime focus on advice for life. Their ethos is to create greater financial certainty for their clients through all life stages, by creating personalised financial plans that keep pace with life.
Lifetime offers a fully integrated financial advice model that includes:
- Financial planning
- Cashflow management/modelling
- Mortgage broking and advice
- Insurance advice
- Investment advice
- Employee benefits and group insurance advice
Tahi's investment in Lifetime will enable them to accelerate their growth plans and continue to implement their vision of bringing quality, independent financial advice to all New Zealanders.
Tahi and Lifetime became partners in June 2021.
Sunchaser Avocados
On sun-kissed Motiti Island in the Bay of Plenty, Sunchaser Avocados enjoys the earliest avocado harvest in the country. Located 12 kilometres off the Papamoa coast, Sunchaser’s 145 hectares orchard, one of the largest in New Zealand, produces top-quality avocados from its thousands of trees, which can be found in supermarkets across the country.
Sunchaser Avocados became Booster’s third Tahi partner in May 2018.
Canterbury Grasslands Limited
Formed in 2000 by a group of dairy farmers in Canterbury, Canterbury Grasslands is a well established, diversified dairy farming company. Since inception Grasslands has expanded into Southland, Waikato and also has subsidiaries operating farms in Oregon and Missouri in the United States.
Canterbury Grasslands operates around 8,700 Ha in NZ and 3,500 Ha in the USA, utilising a low input /cost approach which provides resilience in down turns and is positioned well in terms of comparative environmental footprint. The company primarily sells its NZ milk through Fonterra and Synlait. The USA operations offers an exciting growth prospect via a premium direct channel to market, Zeal Creamery.
New Zealand is a world leader in dairy and partnering with Grasslands offered an opportunity to invest in New Zealand’s competitive advantage through its largest export sector. Canterbury Grasslands is a high performing participant who has demonstrated excellent partnering behaviours and commercial acumen. The investment into the dairy sector also offers further diversification benefits to Tahi investors.
Tahi became shareholders in Canterbury Grasslands in March 2022.
Dodson Motorsport
Established in 2000, Dodson Motorsport is a world leader in aftermarket dual clutch transmission components for luxury and performance vehicles, including Nissan, Mitsubishi, Porsche, VW, BMW and Audi.
Dodson’s components are renowned for handling higher horsepower and torque, reducing heat and improving grip and reliability.
With Tahi’s investment, Dodson Motorsport will be able to realise market growth plans. Investment into a new facility and plant equipment will improve operational efficiencies and increase production levels to meet growing market demand and global opportunities.
Tahi's investment into Dodson's and the specialised manufacturing sector is the first step in diversification of the Tahi portfolio, helping to commercialise Kiwi ingenuity and innovation and put it on the world stage.
Tahi and Dodson Motorsports became partners in June 2019.
HTS-110
HTS-110 has been operating for over 17 years and was formed out of Victoria University of Wellington. HTS-110 design and manufacture cryogen-free electromagnetic products using high temperature superconducting (HTS) wire. These products bring world leading production of innovative magnetic solutions including custom magnets, NMR and MRI solutions, current leads, HTS coils and vector fields software for modelling and analysing electromagnetic equipment and effects.
Tahi has invested alongside the venture capital firm Matū and HTS-110’s CEO Donald Pooke. Whilst the initial investment was small there is the potential to invest significant amounts of capital in the future. The investment thesis is supported by the capacity to expand the business in time as prospective “add on” products, technology and customers are delivered.
HTS-110 participates in an industry that has attractive economics due to the highly specialised nature of the design and manufacturing of high temperature superconductors.
Tahi invested in HTS-110 in August 2021.