A property developer and a restaurateur have spent $10m purchasing a Queenstown mountain they plan to turn into a commercially viable eco-haven. Want to buy an affordable house with a native forest outlook in the tourist mecca of Queenstown, and do good for the planet at the same time? Treespace has the solution for you. … Read more
EAT-Lancet’s edict that we should eat only half a bacon rasher a day and one egg a week has upset pretty much everyone. Where does it leave New Zealand’s farming-based economy? The release of the EAT-Lancet Commission’s report last week kicked off a global debate on food, health, and what we should be eating to save … Read more
Erin, Eliza, Taika, or Colin. Which New Zealand social media influencer gives you the best bang for your buck? One recent study reckons it has the answer. According to one well-known specialist agency, $10,000 will buy you anywhere from seven to 20 posts from as many as 14 paid influencers. The variation in posts is … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Jenny Etherington who, along with her partner Thomas Mortimer, founded Solvej (sool-vay) Swings – makers of sustainable and long-lasting swings for babies and toddlers. ONE: How did Solvej Swings start and what was … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation in which host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Rebekah and Tamati Norman of local apothecary company Native Rituals. Business at its best can be … Read more
New Zealanders have been filling their homes (and hearts) with cool, trendy houseplants in recent years. But why are we all so obsessed? And why are some plants so expensive? More than 50 but less than a hundred – that’s how many houseplants Ron Goh reckons he currently has in his central city apartment. The … Read more
President Trump has been compared with Shakespeare’s autocratic Richard III. New Zealanders watching their diminishing KiwiSaver balances should take note. The first thing you’ll notice is this is the business editor writing about Shakespeare. It may be a summer rush of blood to the head; I prefer to think of it as a perk of … Read more
Drivers peeing into a bottle because they can’t afford toilet stops and migrant workers sleeping in depots: The trucking industry is in a race to the bottom, a new study says. It took AUT researcher Dr Clare Tedestedt George several days to recover from her 15-hour interview with a truck driver. The conversation lasted that … Read more
Four Spinoff writers share their New Year financial resolutions and some tips on how to actually make them happen this time. Every January a fountain of hope spews forth a list of commitments to solve all the issues in our lives in the form of the annual New Year resolutions. But usually, the fountain runs … Read more
Environmental limits, changing tastes and a redefined social licence are driving consumers away from animal proteins. In part two of a series on the rise of veganism, Daniel Eb looks at what New Zealand must do to get on board. There is a sense of impending transformation ahead for agriculture in New Zealand. The world’s … Read more
How honest do advertisements really need to be? Madeleine Chapman investigates a newspaper ad promising a price of $14.99 when the real cost is far, far more. The best advertisements make you stop. Sometimes because they’re funny, or fun to look at. Sometimes because they’re inspiring. And sometimes, though less often, because they offer a … Read more
A graduate of a women-only startup incubator is using crowdsourcing to gather usable data about patterns of sexual assault. Whereas once the female of the species was expected to deal with ‘creepy’ behaviour from men as best she could, the #metoo movement has empowered women to speak out about sexual harassment and violence in our … Read more
In 2017 New Zealand imported a massive 20,000 e-bikes and that number is likely to have grown exponentially in 2018. But what do you need to know before you buy one? Russell Brown has the lowdown. First published 12 May 2018. If you think you’re seeing more e-bikes on the road, you’re not wrong. In … Read more
Imagine you didn’t get paid for a month or two for your work. Big businesses have used this tactic to keep cash in the bank – but how long do our corporates take to pay? Rebecca Stevenson investigates. This post was originally published 17 February 2018 In New Zealand, they account for 97% of businesses. … Read more
Hundreds of New Zealand’s wealthiest investors gathered for 2018’s Flux Demo Day for a night of wining, dining, and million-dollar business investments. Jihee Junn went along to watch this year’s plucky startups pitch it out. This post was originally published 6 July 2018 “The first rule of investing is: don’t leave the table when the … Read more
The sons of pioneering immigrant vintner Nikola Nobilo are embroiled in legal action over the family inheritance, with one accusing the other of losing it all. This post was originally published 23 October 2018 A bitter battle over money has caused a deep rift in one of west Auckland’s original Croatian wine-making families, leaving two … Read more
Art Green’s company Riot Foods (parent company of CleanPaleo and Poppy & Olive) hit headlines this year for all the wrong reasons when it was revealed it needed $1 million in the next two weeks or risk being sold. Green and co-founder Ryan Kamins sat down exclusively with The Spinoff to reveal exactly what went … Read more
He founded an ethical dairying company that would allow calves to stay with their mothers. But Happy Cow founder Glen Herud admits that his enterprise had failed. This post was originally published 21 April 2018 I’m a third generation dairy farmer. The milk business is the only business I know. Four years ago I decided … Read more
We ask Business is Boring host Simon Pound to pick out 10 episodes from the past year you should give a listen (or re-listen) to this summer. Read More: Reflecting on 100 episodes of Business is Boring We Compost on how it’s keeping tons of waste out of landfill Nine years ago, Steve Rickerby spotted … Read more
Sensors that turn the city into a ‘body’ which can detect its own workings. ‘Digital twins’ that are new improved versions of the original town. The sprint for the urban environment of the future is on, writes Mark Thomas. In his recent book The Fourth Age, technology entrepreneur Byron Reese says we will see more … Read more
Pre-meeting meetings sound like bureaucracy gone mad to Westerners, but the Japanese method of decision-making means everyone is brought along together. From the moment you first arrive in Japan you realise that your conceptions, whatever they are, need to be thrown aside. I ended up living for a total of five years in Osaka and … Read more
Chloe Ann-King wants to set up a digital union providing hospo workers with tools such as a ‘Rate My Boss’ scheme and an online pay checker. In Chloe Ann-King’s 14 years of working in the country’s bars and restaurants she has seen staff underpaid, harassed by members of the public, and exploited by employers. This … Read more
After seeing so many reports over the years of the Swedish flatpack furniture giant coming to New Zealand, business editor Maria Slade is having a crisis of faith. I stopped believing in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy some time ago. Likewise, I do not believe IKEA is coming to New Zealand. My editor points … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Warner Cowin, founder and CEO of procurement … Read more
Business editor Maria Slade reflects on lessons learned from her truncated career in corporate PR and the enduring importance of journalism. Not so long ago I did a stint in the communications department of a large organisation which shall remain nameless… Oh bugger it, it was Fonterra. The corporate world was new to me. The … Read more
Small business owner Heather Claycomb learned the hard way that donating till it hurts is not how to change the world. She offers some tips for making an impact. How many emails have you opened in recent weeks from companies telling you they donated to charity for the holidays? Corporate charitable giving at Christmas is … Read more
From furniture to food, wholesale import businesses are on an upward trend. From plush, leather Chesterfield sofas to marble coffee tables framed with brushed stainless steel, wholesale furniture company Hawthorne has managed to strike a pleasant middle ground between classical and modern. “Contemporary but timeless” is how Julian Frizzell, the general manager for the business … Read more
The pension probably will still be around when today’s youth retire, but refusing to change the system at all will mean a tougher working life, writes Jenesa Jeram. It’s hard to make young people care about New Zealand Superannuation. I should know. Even when confronted with David Seymour’s warning that “NZ baby boomers are building … Read more
Its latest mission may be inadvertently exposing New Zealand to the militarisation of space, writes Ollie Neas. Rocket Lab made history on Sunday as its first ever mission for NASA made orbit from the Mahia Peninsula. The mission was the first dedicated launch of miniature satellites, or CubeSats, for NASA by a commercial launch provider. … Read more