The New Zealand-based business went on to sell some 33 million bottles of its products in more than 20 countries.
Then the Covid pandemic hit, dealing a heavy blow to trading, while mounting pressure on supply chains drove up its costs.
And, in July 2024, the business went into liquidation after its parent company, Singapore’s East Imperial Pte, defaulted on a loan to INL Investments Ltd.
INL took over the international parent firm and decided to wind up the New Zealand subsidiary.
A final report by liquidator Deloitte, released last month, showed the New Zealand branch of East Imperial was deregistered from the Companies Office, still owing $7.8 million.
Burt tells Society Insider he has learned a lot from losing East Imperial, and says the reality of the liquidation was more complex than it might have appeared.
“At the time, we were in advanced acquisition talks with a major international company,” says Burt.
“Our lawyers had requested a repayment statement to clear the INL Investments loan in full before [the liquidation]”.
Burt also says most of the money reported as being owed was not trade debt in New Zealand but intercompany loans to East Imperial PLC, a British holding company.
“It was widely reported at one point that the company owed $23m, [which was] later revised to $7m.
“Neither figure reflected the true position; the overwhelming majority was intercompany balances rather than unpaid local creditors,” Burt says.
The East Imperial brand was taken over after the liquidation by INL Investments’ director, Horace Ngai, who is based in Hong Kong.
Ngai told Society Insider INL wasn’t aware of any proposal for East Imperial to pay the cash loan advanced to it.
He also disputed comments that advanced acquisition talks were under way for East Imperial to be sold.
Ngai says INL is committed to ensuring the long-term financial stability and success of East Imperial and strengthening its market position.
Despite losing the brand he started, Burt said he is immensely proud of what the company achieved before the liquidation.
“We built an innovative, global-leading brand that connected New Zealand to the world,” he said of East Imperial.
And now Burt is back with a new venture, this time in the food industry.
He has teamed up with business partner Dana Johnston, well known for creating some of Auckland’s most iconic hospitality spots, including 1885, 46 & York, and Pineapple on Parnell.
Together, they are developing Maris Vitae, a Southland-based start-up focusing on exporting premium NZ seafood as high-end gourmet canned fish.
They have also brought in NZ celebrity chef Peter Gordon as culinary director, the man behind restaurants including SkyCity’s The Sugar Club, and Homeland, which closed last year.
Burt and Johnston tell Society Insider that their Maris Vitae project is still in its early stages, but their ambition is significant.
“It will include a boutique, semi-automated canning facility in Southland producing a range of premium New Zealand seafood,” says Johnston.
“All sourced sustainably and transformed into gourmet products under the culinary direction of internationally renowned chef Peter Gordon,” he says.
Gordon told Society Insider that working with Maris Vitae is “an exciting opportunity” to showcase NZ seafood to the world, where “canned seafood is held in high esteem”.
“I have always strongly advocated for New Zealand kaimoana,” he says. “It’s an incredible venture and I’m genuinely excited to be a part of it”.
Burt and Johnston see an incredible opportunity to showcase New Zealand seafood in a completely new way.
“The response so far has been overwhelming. Iwi, quota holders, government agencies, chefs and distributors all see the potential to take this to the world,” says Johnston.
The pair say Maris Vitae is supported by a heavyweight advisory board spanning seafood, Māori enterprise, governance and investment.
Through the research Maris Vitae has conducted with Introspective Market Research, the team believes the venture could unlock new value chains, create year-round jobs in Southland, and position New Zealand as a serious player in the growing global gourmet seafood market, currently worth more than $50 billion.
In June, the pair had a meeting at parliament, introducing Maris Vitae to NZ First MP Jenny Marcroft, in her capacity as Under Secretary to the Oceans and Fisheries Ministry, along with Ministry of Primary Industries officials.
“This is about moving forward positively,” Johnston says.
“We want to prove, once again, that New Zealand can lead with premium, sustainable products that celebrate our provenance and create value for our people.”
Burt and Johnston have formed a parent company, Rolf Ventures, which is both the holding company for Maris Vitae and a partner to several other FMCG brands. The pair aim to help with strategy, creativity and execution for brands looking to export to global markets.
Sir Colin Giltrap’s motorsport family legacy
NZ Fashion Week: Kahuria begins on Monday, and this year’s re-energised event will include a raft of off-runway activations. One of those gives attendees the chance to meet Kiwi motorsport racer Marco Giltrap, the grandson of the late, great Sir Colin Giltrap.
Marco is the son of Richard Giltrap, who, along with his brother Michael, is the co-executive director of the family’s Giltrap Group, with a family net worth of more than $400m.
Sir Colin, known as much for his philanthropy as for the powerhouse motoring group he started in the 1960s, died in April last year aged 84.
Giltrap Group announced in June that it had signed a three-year partnership deal with NZ Fashion Week, as the official naming rights sponsor of the event.
Richard tells Society Insider his father had an incredible passion for helping Kiwis fly on the world stage, and it is something he and Michael have been proud to continue.
Marco Giltrap, 21, will be part of a meet-and-greet next Thursday morning at one of the Beyond the Runway speaking series, called Menswear Unfiltered, at the Giltrap Cupra showroom on Great North Rd.
Richard tells Society Insider that his son Marco is part of a talented team of Kiwi drivers who have won international titles with Giltrap Group. Marco will be a special guest on the panel, alongside fellow Giltrap Group racers Clay Osborne and Liam Sceats.
Marco started go-karting at the age of 10, with his family and beloved grandfather cheering him on.
He quickly progressed through the ranks, winning championships. He then moved from karts to cars, where he competed in the NZ Toyota 86 Championship. After two years, he moved on to Porsche Cup cars.
Giltrap won the Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia title at Supercheap Auto Bathurst International in 2023, and Marco secured a podium finish, claiming the Jim Richards Enduro Cup. The same year, he clinched the 2023 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia PRO Championship.
Marco has had Kiwi motor sport champion Simon Evans as a mentor, and looks to be following in Evans’ steps as one of the hardest-working drivers from go-karts to cars.
As well as Giltrap Group, Marco has had sponsor and partner deals with streetwear label Huffer, UDC Finance, car and rental company SIXT, and Italian appliance giant Smeg.
And as well as the racing stars, the speaking panel for Unfiltered features highly influential leaders in menswear: Rodd and Gunn CEO Mike Beagley, Longform Limited’s Des Rusk, and Porter James Sports designer Joshua Heares.
The following afternoon, Porsche is highlighting NZ’s most compelling contemporary designers, with The New Guard: Rewriting the Rules of NZ Fashion taking place onsite at Shed 10.
On the panel are Wynn Hamlyn founder Wynn Crawshaw; Harris Tapper co-founder Lauren Tapper; Rebe founder Rebe Burgess; and Georgia Alice and Flowers founder Georgia Currie.
The other must-see panel is From Idea to Empire: Turning Creativity into Global Success, which features visiting Australian Ksubi Creative Director Pip Edwards with Karen Walker, who is showing at the week for the first time in 15 years, and Stolen Girlfriends’ Marc Moore, who will feature onsite at Shed 10 on Wednesday.
NZ Fashion Week owner Feroz Ali tells Society Insider that after being away for two years, he and his team are looking forward to giving the fashion industry the jumpstart it needs.
“We’ve been overwhelmed with the way the industry has embraced the new direction for the event, and I look forward to seeing people experience it in real life,” says Feroz.
NZ model and agency founder Kim Larking goes from fashion to philanthropy
For more than 25 years, Kim Larking was a giant in the fashion and modelling industry. His next chapter has focused on giving back to create a better world.
Larking, 61, walked the top runways around the world in the mid-1980s and the early 1990s, going on to create one of New Zealand’s top modelling agencies, Clyne Model Management, where Kylie Bax was one of his signings.
He now runs a charitable organisation, Vision for Humanity, and has become an author.
“I’ve gradually redirected my life from the heights of the fashion world, while wishing to stay authentic to who I am,” Larking tells Society Insider.
“I try to use my fashion experience to create relatable, inspirational role model messages to make healthy, constructive habits fashionable.”
Larking says that through social media, everyone now has a platform to magnify their beliefs, values, and interests, subtly influencing the direction of society.
“That should be used for constructive purposes,” he says.
Larking modelled around the world for six years in Milan, Paris, London, Tokyo, Canada, and Spain, and worked for designers Armani, Missoni, and Valentino in Milan.
As an 18-year-old, Larking says, his education was travelling the developing world on a shoestring budget of 50 cents a day, which he says was an extreme contrast to being backstage at the haute couture runway shows of Jean Paul Gaultier with all the supermodels of the era. It was these extreme life perspectives that he says helped shape his unique view of the world.
With a book filled with solid global industry contacts, Larking started Clyne Management in 1991. He credits the success of Kylie Bax as a key milestone in turning his agency into a powerhouse.
“Having discovered and managed Kylie, placing her globally, every door in the fashion world opened wider,” he says.
One of Larking’s most significant moments for Bax was signing her with Woman Agency in New York, where she worked with photographer Steven Meisel – famous for his work in Vogue as well as for photographing Madonna for her controversial book Sex.
“Her stardom flowed from there,” Larking says.
Other famous names on Clyne’s books included Michelle Blanchard, who went on to feature on Real Housewives of Auckland, and Nicola Robinson, later known as Nicky Watson while married to Eric Watson, as well as Nick Bryant, Andrew Healy, Andrew Von Lochner, Jannette Williams, Racheal Millar, Peter Nolet, Chloe Hardy, Tia Woods, Jessica Clarke, and Emily Baker.
The last thing Larking did at Clyne was to place Georgia Fowler with IMG New York, sparking her international career.
He finished with the modelling industry in 2011, but retained the agency’s offices in Auckland’s Martin’s Lane, turning them into his base to focus on his new business, Vision Products.
The skin and body care range is made from natural, organic, wild-harvested ingredients, and presented in advanced eco-packaging. Vision Products also has a range of bamboo eco-apparel. Larking says he reinvests in “Biospherically Correct” systems.
“A Biospherically Correct system takes into account all eco-social aspects of how products and services can be ethically produced – as per the principles of how our biosphere works,” says Larking.
Larking’s goals are lofty. Vision Products generates funds and awareness to support its sister charity Vision for Humanity, which he says aims to “elevate global consciousness and empower people to co-create a successful planet, with more peace, prosperity and joy in the world”.
Larking says VFH is developing a wide range of resources to help people “holistically advance their lives”, and there are large-scale templates the charity is working on as initiatives to positively shape the world. When VFH officially launches, Larking says he will bring all of the services into a planned “urban sanctuary” he hopes to open next year.
Larking is also a self-published author, with his first book, Health Psychology: A Paradigm Shift to Greater Health Span, released last year. It includes techniques to assist people with life balance, authentic happiness, self-empowerment, and functional ageing.
“The greatest satisfaction has come from the regular stream of people who have informed me how the book has helped them,” Larking says.
He lives what he teaches, looking years younger than his 61 years, but he believes age is irrelevant anyway – it’s your functional or biological age that counts.
He says he has refined all his lifestyle habits for optimal well-being and health span, but likes to blend in at a party.
“I drink kombucha from a champagne glass and cranberry juice from a red wine glass to keep everyone feeling comfortable,” he says.
Party people of the week
Forever Auckland FC
Sky TV teamed up with Auckland FC at Event Cinemas Newmarket on Friday night to celebrate the launch of its upcoming docuseries, Forever Auckland FC.
AFC founders Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams were joined by a host of Black Knights players, including captain Hiroki Sakai, defenders Francis De Vries and Dan Hall, AFC’s CEO Nick Becker and head coach Steve Corica (recently named Isuzu UTE A-League Coach of the Year).
Other guests included former All Black legend Dan Carter, former Olympian Steve Ferguson and his wife, TV personality Shelley Ferguson, Sky’s chief corporate affairs officer Chris Major, Sky NZ Original’s Nick Ward (senior commissioner and executive producer of the series), and head of sport content, Gary Burchett.
Guests were treated to a preview of the first two episodes of the eight-part series, executive produced by a Kiwi television icon, NHNZ Worldwide’s Dame Julie Christie.
Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine MC-ed the event, leading a pre-screening Q&A with Christie, Mowbray, Becker, Corica, and De Vries. The AFC panel shared their experiences of inviting cameras into the club – an idea of Christie’s, greenlit by AFC to honour their rapidly amassed and loyal fanbase.
The series premieres on Sky Open and Neon on August 27.
Real Housewives of London preview
The exclusive New Zealand preview of The Real Housewives of London took place in Auckland last Thursday. The show is reality streaming platform Hayu’s first commission of an original series, expanding the global franchise that includes versions filmed in Beverly Hills, New York, Dubai and many other cities around the world.
Guests watched the first episode, which introduced its six stars – Juliet Angus, Karen Loderick-Peace, Juliet Mayhew, Panthea Parker, Amanda Cronin and Nessie Welschinger – while enjoying prosecco and a British-inspired high tea at the Library boutique cinema at Westfield Newmarket.
Guests included RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 1 winner, Kita Mean, former reality stars Colin Mathura-Jeffree and entrepreneur lyia Liu, ZM host Georgia Burt and influencer Win Wolf.
The Real Housewives of London is available to stream on Hayu, with episodes dropping weekly for a 10-episode run. The series will culminate with a reunion special hosted by London-based Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan.
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.
