58 | MANUFACTURING Cottonsoft Russell Fredic Market leader enjoys strong growth Cottonsoft had the extra production capacity available in Dunedin to meet spikes in demand during the Covid pandemic. Cottonsoft has established itself as New Zealand’s largest maker of retail toilet tissue and kitchen towel through strategic planning, innovation and even unexpected circumstances. The company has come a very long way since it emerged out of a church fundraising venture under the brand of Plypac in Dunedin in 1988. The business was subsequently renamed Cottonsoft in 2002 when the CottonSofts brand was also birthed. A New Zealand success story, the company today employs 210 staff, annually turns over $100 million and has grown its volume 450% in the past 15 years across its retail and commercial businesses. In addition to bathroom and toilet tissue, Cottonsoft’s range includes facial tissues, napkins and products for away-from-home commercial locations such as hotels, offices and public bathrooms, including a brand called ‘Livi’ sold to the commercial sector. By 2006, the Cottonsoft business had reached the point where an additional manufacturing site was needed. A factory was opened in East Tamaki, Auckland, in May 2007 resulting in about 70% of production coming from this site, the Dunedin site reduced to one 40 hour shift. The same year the company was sold to an overseas shareholder which has facilitated Cottonsoft’s expansion ever since, but its management has remained autonomous to New Zealand. General manager Kim Calvert attributes the growth to both the strength and expansion of Cottonsoft’s brands and the strength of its team. Its Paseo brand, launched in 2011,became the market leader in both value and volume in the toilet tissue category. “Part of what we’ve done is to develop the existing toilet tissue categories, but also new categories and to try new things.” This includes the creation of the Earthsmart brand which is made from recycled paper along with the development of recyclable paper packaging for it. “That’s a new technology that’s not been done by anybody else in our New Zealand categories. We worked on technology with a New Zealand printing/packaging company to develop a recyclable coating that was still able to be heat sealed. Obviously that appealed to the shoppers of that style of product.” All Cottonsoft’s tissue products are sourced from either recycled paper or have certification through the world’s largest forest certification system, PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), while a significant number of its retail tissue products are licenced to display the Environmental Choice New Zealand eco-label. The bulk rolls of tissue that Cottonsoft uses as its raw material are shipped from overseas paper mills. The paper combines the fibre of hardwood trees and softwood trees respectively grown in the warmer and cooler regions of the earth’s hemispheres. This combination provides for two different lengths of paper fibre which creates both strength and softness. Cottonsoft sources most of its bulk tissue paper from mills in China and Indonesia and converts these large rolls into its consumer products. Purchasing from multiple mills proved extremely beneficial during the covid pandemic when toilet tissue apparently became one of the most precious commodities on earth. “When the supply chain got difficult, we were able to move most of our purchasing to a single mill that had a deep water port and that enabled us to do bulk shipping; we were able to source our tissue from a new mill and that enabled us to guarantee supply on a charter ship.” Because of the earlier expansion, Cottonsoft had the extra production capacity available in Dunedin to meet spikes in demand during the pandemic. Late last year a competitor exited the New Zealand market and Cottonsoft was fortunate to be able purchase its equipment. “Those machines were critical to the supply capacity of New Zealand. Had those machines left New Zealand there wouldn’t have been enough [paper] converting capacity to supply the market.” After decades of consistent growth and the challenges of change and market circumstances, Cottonsoft now has the capacity to meet its markets’ needs in the medium term. “So we are actually in a really good position where we have the ability to expand within our existing capacity. “We’ve set ourselves up for a really strong future as a company, part of that’s been the responsiveness and how we’ve worked with our team and our customers throughout the covid delays.” “The new ranges of products that we’ve made through different categories, that’s really enabled us to be a more balanced business in the future as well. “I’m really proud of how the business has grown in the 30 years we’ve been running.” PROUD TO SUPPORT COTTONSOFT Russet Engineering Sales Ltd are pleased to be suppliers for Cottonsoft Importers & Wholesale Suppliers of: • Geared Motors & Power Transmission Products • Conveyor Belting & Equipment • Industrial Hoses & Fittings • Industrial Products • Conveyor Vulcanising Services Source Supply Service 100% NZ owned O800 RUSSET Metalspray Repairs • Tool & Die Making • CNC Milling • Onsite Maintenance Metalspray Engineering Ltd is well known in the local engineering industry with 50-plus years experience, offering a complete range of engineering services, including design, metalspray repairs, tool and die making, CNC milling, general engineering, gear cutting, special purpose machine building, maintenance engineering and an all-hours emergency engineering service. 03 477 0036 21 Sturdee St, Dunedin 9016 www.metalspray.co.nz office@metalspray.co.nz
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