GREEN GOLD
in association with GREATER WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCIL
~ sustainable products & programmes
2020 FINALISTS
AGAIN AGAIN
Guilt-free Cups Deluxe....
After a light bulb moment in March 2018, in which Nada Piatek Managing Director, (pictured) saw a systematic approach to addressing single-use waste in the coffee industry, Again Again was born – and so was the reusable takeaway coffee cup revolution.
"Again Again offers a sustainable solution – in a Kiwi industry that sees 295 million single-use cups entering landfills and the ecosystem annually – through a reusable and refundable coffee cup share system, which stops upwards of 820,000 single-use cups entering landfills annually.” Nada tells us.
The reusable steel cups are available with a deposit and return at participating cafes, giving coffee fiends peace of mind with every sip.
LEARN MORE: www.againagain.co @againagainco
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GREEN GOLD
in association with GREATER WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCIL
~ sustainable products & programmes
2020 FINALISTS
AGAIN AGAIN
Guilt-free Cups Deluxe....
After a light bulb moment in March 2018, in which Nada Piatek Managing Director, (pictured) saw a systematic approach to addressing single-use waste in the coffee industry, Again Again was born – and so was the reusable takeaway coffee cup revolution.
"Again Again offers a sustainable solution – in a Kiwi industry that sees 295 million single-use cups entering landfills and the ecosystem annually – through a reusable and refundable coffee cup share system, which stops upwards of 820,000 single-use cups entering landfills annually.” Nada tells us.
The reusable steel cups are available with a deposit and return at participating cafes, giving coffee fiends peace of mind with every sip.
LEARN MORE: www.againagain.co @againagainco
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INNOVATION GOLD in association with DATACOM
~ inventive new products & processes
2020 FINALISTS
INNOVATION GOLD in association with DATACOM
~ inventive new products & processes
INNOVATION GOLD in association with DATACOM
~ inventive new products & processes
2020 FINALISTS
2020 FINALISTS
Wellington region's premier annual business celebration
XEQUALS
EMERGING GOLD - PRODUCTS
~ 10 or fewer full-time employees
Previous Winners include: Icebreaker • Dignity NZ
Fix & Fogg Peanut Butter • Orba Shoes • Six Barrel Soda
Able Spaces • Bootleggers Craft Soda • Tuatara Brewing
Racetech Seats • Greytown Gin Company • Fernglen Farm
2026 FINALISTS
MUFFTECH
From whinge to win
Five years ago, Simon Stone pulled off his earmuffs after a long day on a construction site and asked why the options were so bad.
His wife told him to stop complaining and do something about it.
Founder Simon Stone (pictured) explains: "Three years of prototype development and real job-site testing with tradespeople later, Mufftech launched in 2023: premium Bluetooth hearing protection built by a tradie, for tradies, with serious audio quality to match."
What started as one man's fix for his own problem on a Kiwi work site is now sold in over 20 countries around the world, with the bulk of sales coming from international markets. In just twelve months, Mufftech has gone from a local New Zealand operation to a genuinely global one.
One founder, one product, one category. Not bad for a complaint that finally found its answer.
LEARN MORE
REWA REWA STATION
Plant-dyed, solar-spun, Tinui-made
Set on a 1,000-hectare hill farm in Tinui, this innovative business operates one of only a handful of on-farm Mini Mills in Aotearoa, transforming its own wool into branded yarn.
Installed in 2024, the solarpowered mill employs six Tinui women and manages every stage of production, creating traceable yarns from naturally coloured Corriedale, Polwarth and Gotland sheep.
What can't be achieved naturally is dyed using plants and insects. No shortcuts, no middlemen. Just the farm.
Throw in monthly Craft Days, a restored 1900 Hattersley loom, farm stays and Dark Sky tourism plans, you've got the 2025 Wairarapa Business Awards Supreme Winner.
Owner Patrizia Vieno (pictured) says “Our passion and ethos of Provenance, Sustainability, Education and Resilience is our driving force to innovate and create”.
LEARN MORE
www.facebook.com/RewaRewaStation
www.instagram.com/rewa_rewa_station
WELLUMIO
A Bedside Brain Scan
Wellington medtech, spun from Otago University, with a genuinely game-changing flagship: Axana, a portable brain scanner that detects stroke in under four minutes and light enough for ambulances and ED bays.
“From Wellington, we are creating skilled jobs, bold innovation, and products that improve lives far beyond New Zealand’s shores…” says CEO Shieak Tzeng (pictured with CTO Sergei Obruchkov)
Their patented Pulsed Gradient Free Mapping tech secured a US patent in 2025, and a first clinical study (40 stroke patients, 10 controls) is in the bag.
They've raised $7.7M+ pre-Series A (another $1.3M closing) and landed a Callaghan Innovation Arohia Trailblazer Grant of up to $5M.
Currently under 5% of stroke patients get treated in the golden hour — Wellumio wants to fix that, fast.
LEARN MORE
www.linkedin.com/company/wellumio
WE LOVE LOCAL
Brilliantly Built Boxes
Over $1 million returned to Wellington region producers. Close to $4 million across Aotearoa. Every dollar spent with a small artisan food maker ripples further through their community, reaching their staff, their suppliers, their neighbours.
We Love Local curates gift boxes from 200+ small Kiwi producers, organised by region.
A Wellington box holds only Wellington-made goods. An Otago box, only Otago.
Co-founder Valerie Reitnauer explains "We started because we believed small food producers deserved a bigger audience. Close to $4 million later, we still believe it."
What started in Kāpiti in 2018 now covers all New Zealand regions, with a growing share of orders coming from customers overseas sending gifts back to the people and places they love.
LEARN MORE
linkedin.com/company/welovelocalnz
WONDERLAND CHOCOLATE
Three Ingredients, Endless Joy
Wonderland Chocolate Founder Kate Necklen (pictured with Co-Founder Scott Necklen) took the simplest possible idea - three ingredients, no dairy - and ran with it.
Plant-based m!lk chocolate made from fine cacao, organic raw sugar and cashews, with adventure-park branding inspired by the 1907 Miramar Wonderland Park.
Two years in, the Lyall Bay chocolate maker is in 70+ New Worlds after the 2024 Emerge competition, and won Supreme Award at the 2025 Vegan Chocolate Awards for Pineapple Chews.
102% revenue growth says shoppers have noticed.
As Kate puts it, it's like Willy Wonka and Sir David Attenborough had a love child: three ingredients, infinite charm.
“Our mission is to make delicious plant-based confectionery that is joyful and better for animals and the planet.”
LEARN MORE
www.instagram.com/wonderlandchocolatenz
www.linkedin.com/in/kate-necklen