Cedenco

What Cedenco does

Cedenco Foods New Zealand Ltd. is a privately held New Zealand food ingredient manufacturer founded in 1986 by brothers Cedric and Dean Witters (the company name being a portmanteau of their first names). The business operates as a three-division ingredient platform: Cedenco Foods (fruit and vegetable bulk ingredients), Cedenco Dairy (organic and conventional dairy ingredients via the Waiu Dairy partnership formed in 2015), and Cedenco Aquaculture (New Zealand Greenshell mussels grown in the Coromandel Peninsula and processed by NIML in Tauranga). The product range spans apple juice concentrate, NFC juice, purees, diced and sliced apples, kiwifruit pastes, sweet corn powder, pumpkin powder, frozen squash, citrus peels, and the FreshFields-branded foodservice pouch products. Manufacturing runs from two processing facilities — Hastings (head office and main site) and Gisborne — supported by an Auckland sales office, with a workforce of approximately 150 permanent and 700 seasonal staff.

The technical stack is conventional food processing: drum drying for powders (sweet corn, pumpkin, tomato sprinkle), hot fill and aseptic packaging for shelf-stable pouches and bag-in-drum formats (FreshFields, apple puree), UHT processing for kiwifruit puree and forthcoming onion paste, and microbiological/chromatographic analytical tools in-house. Quality and trade credentials include FSSC 22000, HACCP/GMP, Kosher, Halal, SEDEX membership, and Sustainable Agriculture Code compliance for growers. Products are sold in bulk formats ranging from 200L steel drums and 20kg bags through 3kg/7.5kg/20kg catering pouches up to road tankers for high-volume customers; pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.

The commercial model is B2B ingredient sales-led, with direct enterprise relationships supplying 'some of the world's most iconic food and beverage brands' across Asia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Domestically, the FreshFields foodservice line reaches bakery, catering, and foodservice operators through wholesale distributors Gilmours, Bidfood, and Service Foods. Cedenco was listed on the NZ stock exchange in 1993, acquired by US food processor SK Foods in 2001, and taken private in 2010 when Japanese food ingredients trading company Imanaka Holdings Ltd. acquired the business. In 2017 the company acquired apple processor ENZA Foods and established the dairy and aquaculture divisions.

Name

Cedenco

Legal name

Cedenco Foods New Zealand Ltd.

Website

https://cedenco.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Cedenco Foods New Zealand is a private NZ food ingredient manufacturer operating from Hastings and Gisborne, producing fruit, vegetable, dairy, and Greenshell mussel ingredients for global food and beverage brands and domestic foodservice distributors, and owned by Japanese trading company Imanaka Holdings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Ingredients Manufacturing

NAICS

Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing (3114), Fruit and Vegetable Canning, Pickling, and Drying (31142), Dried and Dehydrated Food Manufacturing (311423), Dairy Product Manufacturing (3115), Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (31171)

SIC

Canned, Frozen & Preservd Fruit, Veg & Food Specialties (2030), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Aromatic Alliums & Dehydrated Vegetables (Garlic, Onion, Shallot, Celery) (AFAJANAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ketchup & Tomato-Based Sauces Manufacturing (AFAKADAA), Fruit Snacks & Dried Fruit (CRADABAJ), Yogurt & Cultured Dairy (Yogurt, Kefir, Sour Cream, Cottage Cheese) (CRADACAB)

Keywords

• Food ingredient manufacturing
• Fruit puree production
• Drum dried powders
• Foodservice ingredient supply
• B2B ingredient solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Hastings

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Food Ingredient Manufacturing and Sales: B2B sales of bulk food ingredients including fruit purees, concentrates, powders, and diced/sliced products to food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. Also foodservice products under FreshFields brand for bakery, catering and foodservice sectors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Cedenco is New Zealand's leading food ingredients manufacturer producing bulk fruit and vegetable ingredients (apple juice concentrates, NFC juice, purees, diced and sliced apples, kiwifruit products, sweet corn and pumpkin powders, frozen vegetables) for food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. It also supplies dairy ingredients via the Cedenco Dairy / Waiu Dairy partnership, Greenshell mussels through Cedenco Aquaculture, and the FreshFields branded foodservice product line for bakeries, catering, and foodservice operators.

Product overview

Cedenco is New Zealand's leading food ingredients company, operating as a platform with three core divisions: Cedenco Foods (fruit and vegetable ingredients), Cedenco Dairy (dairy ingredients via Waiu partnership), and Cedenco Aquaculture (Greenshell mussels). The Cedenco Foods division encompasses bulk ingredients for manufacturers (apple juice, puree, concentrates, diced/sliced apples, kiwifruit products, corn and pumpkin powders) as well as the FreshFields food service brand offering pre-processed apple products in pouch packs. Manufacturing facilities are located in Hastings and Gisborne, serving global food and beverage brands with value-added ingredients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FreshFields: A foodservice brand providing quality professional cooking ingredients made from fresh New Zealand fruit and vegetables, capturing nature's goodness since 1987. Products include sliced apples, diced apples, and sieved apple in convenient pouch packs for bakery, foodservice and catering sectors.

Products and services

• Cedenco Foods (Fruit and Vegetable Ingredients) Bulk fruit and vegetable ingredients manufactured at facilities in Hastings and Gisborne for domestic and export food and beverage manufacturers. Includes apple juice, purees, diced and sliced apples, kiwifruit pastes, pumpkin and sweet corn powders, and frozen vegetable products.
• Cedenco Dairy Organic and conventional dairy ingredients sourced via the Waiu Dairy partnership from locally owned East Coast farms, with focus on sustainability and minimal processing.
• Cedenco Aquaculture (New Zealand Greenshell Mussels) Greenshell mussels grown in the Coromandel Peninsula and processed into frozen half shell and meat products for export to Asia, North America and Europe.
• Apple Juice Concentrate & NFC Apple juice concentrate and not-from-concentrate (NFC) apple juice for beverage manufacturers, available in steel drums, jerry cans, flexi packs and road tankers.
• Diced & Sliced Apples 100% New Zealand apple products with no added sugar, preservatives or colorings, available in 3kg and 7.5kg hot fill pouches, Kosher and Halal certified.
• Apple Puree Premium apple puree with no additives except Vitamin C, no preservatives or added sugars; FSSC 22000 accredited, Kosher and Halal certified, available in 211kg steel drums or 3kg/20kg aseptic packaging.
• Sweet Corn Powder Drum-dried powder made from non-GMO super sweet corn grown in Gisborne, used in instant soup, snacks, and beverages. FSSC 22000 certified, Sustainable Agriculture Code compliant, with a 24-month shelf life.
• Pumpkin Powder Drum-dried powder made from New Zealand grown pumpkins, rich in vitamins A, B, D, E, K, calcium and potassium. Used by soup, snack and beverage manufacturers.
• FreshFields Foodservice Brand 100% New Zealand apples in convenient pouch packs for the bakery, foodservice and catering sectors, capturing nature's goodness since 1987.
• Sliced Apple (FreshFields) Fan-cut style sliced apples in catering pouch packs (3x3kg, 2x7.5kg). Bake stable, no preservatives, designed to reduce preparation time for foodservice applications.
• Diced Apple (FreshFields) 10mm cube diced apples in catering pouch packs (3x3kg, 2x7.5kg). Bake stable with high drain weight and apple aroma for versatile catering applications.
• Sieved Apple (FreshFields) Sieved/pureed apple sauce in catering pouch packs (3x3kg, 2x20kg). No added sugar or preservatives, suitable for soups, sauces, dips, and roast pork accompaniment; ambient storage up to 18 months.
• Pear Juice Concentrate Pear juice concentrate produced at the Hastings facility for food and beverage manufacturers.
• Apple Sauce, Aroma and Oat Milk Apple sauce, aroma and oat milk ingredients produced at the Hastings facility for food and beverage manufacturers.
• Aseptic and UHT Gisborne Ingredients (Apple Paste, Green Kiwifruit Paste, UHT Gold Kiwifruit Puree) Aseptic and UHT-processed fruit pastes and purees produced at the Gisborne facility, including apple paste, green kiwifruit paste and UHT gold kiwifruit puree.
• Frozen Gisborne Ingredients (Squash Pieces, Squash Puree, Citrus Peels, Grapefruit Juice) Frozen squash pieces, frozen squash puree, frozen citrus peels (grapefruit and lemon) and grapefruit juice produced at the Gisborne facility for food manufacturers.
• Frozen Peas, Corn and Pumpkin

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Waiu DairycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Cedenco played an integral role in forming Waiu Dairy from 2015, bringing strong agricultural growing and processing skills as well as decades of international trading skills. Waiu processes dairy ingredients from locally owned farms in the East Coast region.
• North Island Mussel Ltd. (NIML)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerNIML in Tauranga handles processing of Cedenco's Greenshell mussels into frozen half shell and meat products for export. Mussels are grown in pristine waters of Coromandel Peninsula before transport to NIML for processing.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Nexira: French supplier of natural plant-based ingredients (fruit extracts, fibers, acacia gum) for food and nutraceutical manufacturers — comparable on botanical and fruit-based B2B ingredient platform.
• SVZ Industrial: European supplier of fruit and vegetable purees, concentrates and juice ingredients to global food and beverage manufacturers — directly overlapping with Cedenco's core offering.
• Tree Top: US-based cooperative producing apple juice concentrate, apple puree, and apple-based ingredients for food and beverage manufacturers — directly comparable on apple-derived bulk ingredients.
• SunOpta: Specialty ingredient company focused on plant-based and fruit-based ingredients (purees, juices, toppings) for food and beverage customers — directly comparable on clean-label, specialty-ingredient positioning.
• Döhler: German-headquartered B2B ingredient maker producing fruit and vegetable purees, concentrates, juice bases and blends for food & beverage manufacturers globally — directly analogous to Cedenco's fruit/vegetable ingredient offering.
• Agrana: Austria-based global supplier of fruit preparations (purees, pieces, concentrates) for dairy, beverage, bakery and ice cream manufacturers — directly comparable B2B fruit-ingredient model to Cedenco Foods.

Broad incumbents

• Ingredion: Global ingredient solutions company with fruit-derived and specialty food ingredient lines serving major CPG customers — broader incumbent whose specialty and fruit ingredients compete with Cedenco's portfolio.
• Cargill: One of the world's largest diversified food and ingredient suppliers, with significant fruit, sweetener and beverage-ingredient lines serving global CPGs — broad incumbent that touches the same customer procurement lists as Cedenco.
• Tate & Lyle: Global ingredient supplier of sweeteners, texturants and food ingredients for food and beverage manufacturers — broad incumbent on the global B2B ingredient procurement panels that Cedenco serves.
• Kerry Group: Global taste and nutrition company supplying flavors, fruit preparations and functional ingredients to food and beverage manufacturers — overlapping with Cedenco's fruit-preparations adjacent space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cedencofoodsnz
• Facebookfacebook.com/Cedenco-Foods-New-Zealand-228612514215414
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cedenco-foods-nz

Compliance9 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cedenco