Roxdale Foods was known across New Zealand for its canned apricots. A WW2 factory, established in 1942, making food for the troops that evolved into a multi-faceted Central Otago food processor. Under the pressure of foreign competition for its best-selling products the business changed hands and tried to develop new products. It lost its way and slipped into obscurity with a limited processing capacity and a low value product portfolio sold as ingredients, still in many of our supermarket foods but unseen and forgotten.
Two years ago, a group of nostalgic NZ investors took on the challenge to re-invigorate this iconic brand and deliver processed fruit products to local and export markets. As we all know, fruit grown in Central Otago is among the finest fruit in the world. The harvest may be small, even by NZ standards, but the microclimate of the region produces fruit with outstanding taste and colour.
Over the last two years Roxdale Foods has developed a product portfolio of retail, wholesale, food service and ingredients products. Broadened its fruit supplies to cover apple, cherries, apricots, blueberries and blackcurrants and is now ready to take this to market, grow sales and build the brand.