Raglan Food Co is a Waikato business success story. Started by Tesh Randall and Seb Walter in Tesh’s kitchen in 2014, it now sells its popular plant-based coconut yoghurt products throughout New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Pacific Islands.
In the last two years Raglan Food Co has doubled the size of its warehouse, office and production facility; and with a team of 30, is one of the biggest employers in Raglan.
Raglan Food Co currently produces up to 45 tonnes of yoghurt each week. Its recognisable coconut yoghurt can be found on most supermarket shelves throughout New Zealand. Over the years its range has expanded with Natural Greek and Vanilla Bean leading the sales charts while gourmet and seasonal flavours such as Dulce De Leche Caramel or Feijoa and Pear are popular with consumers.
All products are developed and produced in-house at the Raglan-based production plant and warehouse – from recipe creation and yoghurt production through to packaging and labelling.
Supply Chain Manager, Alissa Kamp, has worked in the business for two-and-a-half years and says that Raglan Food Co is a special place to work.
“It's not just a job; we're almost like a big family. Sustainability is really important to us, and everyone is incredibly motivated to bring their best self to work every day. It's a very collaborative environment and we're always striving to do things more efficiently or better,” she adds.
As Supply Chain Manager, Alissa has a wide range of responsibilities.
Together with the sales and marketing teams, she carefully analyses operations plans and sales forecasts to create a production plan. A key aspect of her role is communicating with suppliers of ingredients (the majority of their coconut cream is sourced from Indonesia) as well as packaging and shipping suppliers to ensure that there is enough Raglan Food Co yoghurt on supermarket shelves to meet customer demand.
“I always joke that the supply chain never sleeps. It's a global supply chain so we’re working to global timeframes. It’s actually really exciting to see where all the moving parts come from, and how they come together, and how all of that is then turned into the product that consumers can buy on the supermarket shelf,” she says.
Raglan Food Co recently applied for Regional Business Partner funding so that Alissa could complete a Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM) course.
This specialised course allows participants to better synchronise demand and supply whilst managing supply chain risk.
“The depth of course material was really impressive and focuses on inventory planning and management. Personally I've benefited a lot from the course and have already incorporated so much of what I've learned into my role.
“I’ve been able to enhance the way that we plan day-to-day operations and production, which enables us as a team to operate more efficiently, speed up processes and reduce waste.
“A lot of the tools and techniques I learnt in the course can be applied to make operations run more smoothly and drive efficiencies. I'm also able to communicate more effectively and understand the financial impacts and benefits of certain challenges which speeds up decision making and provides more clarity and visibility for the entire team.
“It's been transformational,” says Alissa.
Find out if your business is eligible for Regional Business Partner funding.