Two of the five category winners in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition come from the food production sector.
Craig Piggott of Halter won the tech and emerging industries category and Sam Bridgewater and Maia Royal of The Pure Food Co took out the service category.
They’re joined by Michael Walker of BlackBull Markets, Miria Flavell of HINE Collection and Jonny Hendriksen of Shuttlerock.The judges also awarded a highly commended title to Ehsan Vaghefi of Toku Eyes.
Director of EY Entrepreneur of the Year, New Zealand, Jason Macgregor, said the trailblazing winners will empower future generations of innovators by showing how individuals can impact their industries.
“Our group of finalists showed the diversity of the entrepreneurial industry in New Zealand. While they all work in different industries, the winners share characteristics of determination, extreme focus, and a drive to succeed.
“We also noticed an increased awareness of social issues coming through in the finalists and ultimately the category winners. They all showed an incredible willingness to take risks and be bold in pursing outcomes, whilst being aware of their own and staff wellbeing.”
Chair of judges Cecilia Robinson said the winners have shown a commitment to persevering towards excellence, despite a challenging economic environment.
“While there was a high calibre of finalists, what stood out with our category winners was their resilience through what we know has been a tough environment in New Zealand.
“These phenomenal entrepreneurs have shown how they addressed a problem in society, found their niche, tackled hardship, and ultimately combined passion, purpose and profitability in their path to success.”
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year New Zealand category winners are:
– Young Entrepreneur: Michael Walker, BlackBull Markets
– Tech and Emerging Industries Entrepreneur: Craig Piggott, Halter
– Product Entrepreneur: Miria Flavell, HINE Collection
– Services Entrepreneur: Sam Bridgewater and Maia Royal, The Pure Food Co
– Master Category:Jonny Hendriksen, Shuttlerock
– Highly Commended: Ehsan Vaghefi, Toku Eyes
The category winners will now compete for the title of EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2024. They will be assessed by a panel of independent judges, all of whom are previous EY Entrepreneur of the Year award winners, across four core criteria: entrepreneurial spirit, impact, growth and purpose.
From there, the entrepreneur crowned New Zealand’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2024 will go on to compete for the title of World Entrepreneur of the Year, announced in June 2025.
