The land and buildings housing one of New Zealand’s leading dog food manufacturers have been placed on the market for sale.
The property at 56 Grey St in Paeroa on the Hauraki Plains comprises 4,310-square metres of food manufacturing premises, warehousing storage, adjoining administrative offices, and staff amenities – all occupied by Superior Pet Food Co which produces a range of top-quality dog rolls and dry canine edible treats.
Superior Pet Food Co’s shelf stable products are manufactured in site from beef, chicken, lamb, and possum meat under trading names such as Chunky, Field and Forest, and Possyum.
The Superior dog food brand traces its roots back more than 50-years, when a brand called Chunky was formulated by three rural Wairarapa men in the 1970’s trading under the name Wairarapa Farm Meats. The company’s first dog roll was called Topp’s Chunky.
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The Wairarapa Farm Meats business grew, and the convenience of a non-refrigerated dog caught on - primarily with farmers and the rural sector. The business moved to the Waikato when the company began producing Chunky Dog Rolls.
Continually growing over the ensuing decades, the business was sold to Fond Foods in 2007, with the company subsequently relocating from Cambridge to its current Paeroa location in 2018 where extensive refurbishment and expansion of the site was undertaken to take the company’s production to a new level.
The Superior Pet Food Co manufacturing operation sits on some 1.2089-hectares of freehold square-shaped land.
The entire move was completed over the Christmas period, and allowed the expanded company to increase its storage and manufacturing scale.
Food manufacturing plant and machinery operating within the Grey Street site include multiple blast freezers and holding chillers, a hydraulic sorting belt, butchering machinery, a weighing and wrapping unit.
That expansion included the integration the Fond Food’s Ranchmans dried treats plant in Paeroa - creating a veritable ‘one-stop hub’ for all of Superior Pet Food’s New Zealand-made dog foods and dog treats.
In September 2021, Fond Foods 2007 Limited changed its name to become Superior Pet Food Co. The name change was designed to better reflect the brand’s production of quality dog foods.
Superior Pet Food Co is also a member of the New Zealand Pet Food Manufacturers Association and the Paeroa plant is fully approved by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Superior’s dog rolls and treats are available nationwide across Countdown, New World and Pak N Save stores, as well as specialist standalone rural retail outlets such as PGG Wrightsons, Farmlands, and Farmsource, and veterinary clinics throughout New Zealand.
Superior Pet Food Company is on a new five-year lease at the Paeroa property running through to 2028, with a further five-year right of renewal - generating annual rental of $460,000 plus GST and operational expenses.
The land and tenanted buildings located at 56 Grey Street in Paeroa are now being marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Waikato and Bayleys Auckland, with the tender process closing on October 26.
Salesperson Josh Smith said the specifically purposed fit out within the premises reflected Superior Pet Food’s long-term commitment to staying in the locale.
“The main building comprises a large open plan factory floor with drive-through raw product goods delivery and finished product pick access via high stud electric roller doors at either end of the plant,” he said.
The core of the building was constructed in 1992 with steel framed portals, and lined with freezer panelling. The floor of the processing room is in-laid with drainage filtering into fat traps.
Staff amenities include male and female toilet and shower facilities, an administration office, and lunchroom.
Smith said Paeroa’s strategic location in relation to key dog food markets in Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga underpinned Superior Pet Food Co’s decision to move to the Grey Street premises.
“This is very much a ‘hands off’ investment proposition which ticks all the necessary boxes – a modern and well-maintained building, with a good tenant of high reputation in place, underpinned by a long lease and commitment to a preferred location,” he said.
- Article supplied by Bayleys
