No red band for Skellerup
Rising sales of dairy consumable products helped Skellerup deliver a record net profit of $48 million last financial year.
The maker of revered Kiwi Red Band gumboots is this year celebrating 60 years in production.
Skellerup national manager footwear, Perry Davis, says Red Bands were the first short boots ever made in New Zealand if not the world.
“Traditionally gumboots have always come up to just below the knee,” Davis says.
“No-one is quite sure who at Marathon Rubber Footwear – the forerunner of Skellerup -- had the idea to create a shorter boot but in 1958 the new concept was tried.
“The first Red Band gumboots rolled off the production line on October 21, 1958 and was an instant hit.”
Sixty years later these gumboots are still a staple in most rural NZ households.
Natural rubber compounds with built-in UV inhibitors withstand our harsh environment, and a heavy-duty non-clog cleated sole plant the wearer’s feet.
And they have heavy-duty cotton canvas bonded to the rubber to give the boots strength, flexibility and protection.
Red Band gumboots were made at Skellerup’s Woolston factory in Christchurch until the late 1980s. Today the boots are made in the company’s new factory in Jiangsu, China.
“They are still hand-made to the original specifications and formulations of 60 years ago,” says Davis. “Each Red Band is made up of 19 individual components with at least six different rubber formulations used in every boot.”
Nine lucky school leavers passionate about farming will join Pamu for a two-year journey into agriculture, living and working at Pamu farm, Aratiatia near Taupo.
Nutritionists are urging Kiwis to kickstart their day with a piece of fresh fruit to help improve their health and wellbeing this autumn.
Under its innovation strategy, Craigmore Sustainables says it is collaborating with new innovators of technology across sustainability, people, animals and business management to enhance New Zealand's dairy sector.
Deeply cynical and completely illogical. That's how Kimberly Crewther, the executive director of DCANZ is describing the Canadian government's flagrant breach of international trade law in refusing to open its market to New Zealand dairy exports.
This week the winner of the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori Dairy farm will be announced at a gala dinner in Hamilton.
Once-a-day milking (OAD) can increase or lower the amounts of proteins in milk, according to a new study published in the journal Dairy.
OPINION: Scientists claim to have found a new way to make a substitute for cow's milk that could have a…
OPINION: The Irish have come up with a novel way to measure cow belching, which is said to account for…