Te Awanui Huka Pak Ltd (Huka Pak) was incorporated way back in 1991 but is now reaching out in a more direct manner to its international buyers. As the largest shareholder in Seeka Industries, the largest post-harvest operator of kiwifruit in the world, Maori landowners make up between 8-10 per cent of the industry.What we're seeing is the explicit linkage between our culture and our business. In the words of CEO Hemi Rolleston:
"We need to demonstrate what's different about us and our culture is part of our difference. They love it - that we can move from the kapa haka stage to the boardroom."
An item on Maori news fills some gaps, and I found the 2004 accounts on TPK's 'Wall of Honour' page:
However, such ventures also speak of the growing gap between corporately connected Maori - business elites and large shareholders - and the economically disconnected such as those resident in Kawerau where
Ministry of Social Development figures show 1324 of the town's residents are working-age beneficiaries: 19% of the population of 6940. The mayor wants to stop beneficiaries moving there, a further constraint upon those who don't exactly have a lot of freedom to start with...
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