Hill Laboratories
Hill Laboratories is New Zealand's largest privately owned analytical testing laboratory, delivering chemistry and microbiological testing plus inspection and certification services across agriculture, environmental, and food sectors from six nationwide locations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1984
- HeadquartersHamilton, New Zealand
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Hill Laboratories does
Hill Laboratories is New Zealand's largest privately owned analytical testing laboratory, founded in 1984 by Dr Roger and Anne Hill and operated as a family-owned business across six locations (Hamilton, Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga, Christchurch, Blenheim). The company delivers chemistry and microbiological testing across three primary verticals — agriculture, environmental, and food — using state-of-the-art instruments and updated methods, with IANZ accreditation underpinning credibility in regulated end-markets. The testing menu is broad and modular: asbestos, drugs of abuse, feed, food, microbiology, plant and crop, soil, water, wine and beverage, plus adjunct categories (mould, air quality, effluent, surface and swab, compost). A second service line, inspection and certification, was formalized in 2025 through a strategic joint venture with Sam Brooks, covering food manufacturing, dairy, apiculture, territorial authorities, and building management.
The business model is B2B laboratory services sold primarily through relationship management by dedicated Client Services Managers deployed across every market sector, supplemented by a self-serve online portal (MyLab at portal.hill-laboratories.com) for sample registration, ordering, and results delivery. Revenue is generated on a usage-based, per-test basis for laboratory work, and on a professional-services basis for inspection and certification engagements; pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Customers named in published testimonials include Turners & Growers, Egmont Honey, and First Fresh New Zealand, indicating enterprise-grade relationships in produce, apiculture, and fresh-produce exports. The company is 100% NZ owned, with no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or institutional investors, and no public revenue or headcount figures are available in the source material.
Hill Laboratories firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hill Laboratories
- Legal name
- Hill Laboratories
- Website
- https://hill-laboratories.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1984
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Hill Laboratories is New Zealand's largest privately owned analytical testing laboratory, delivering chemistry and microbiological testing plus inspection and certification services across agriculture, environmental, and food sectors from six nationwide locations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hill Laboratories industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Analytical Testing Services
- NAICS
- Testing Laboratories and Services (54138), Testing Laboratories and Services (541380)
- SIC
- Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Food Testing Laboratories (Microbiological, Chemical, Allergen) (AFALAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Laboratory Analysis Services (Wet Chemistry, Microbiology for Grains) (AFAOAMAJ), Laboratory Testing & Analytical Services (in-house/contract labs; microbiology, metals, organics) (EUANAJAB), Forage & Feed Testing Services (Silage, Hay, Pasture) (AFACAKAM), Soil Health & Biological Testing Services (Microbial Activity, Organic Matter, Respiration) (AFACAKAD), Environmental Monitoring & Hygiene Verification (Swabs, ATP, Pathogen Monitoring) (AFALAAAE)
Keywords
Where Hill Laboratories is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hamilton
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices6 records
Markets served
Hill Laboratories business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Laboratory Testing Services: Comprehensive analytical testing services across agriculture, environmental, and food sectors including water, soil, wine, honey, food microbiology, plant and crop, and other specialized testing. Revenue generated through per-test pricing based on sample analysis.
- Inspection and Certification Services: Independent inspection and certification services delivered by a team with experience across New Zealand's primary and regulatory sectors, including food manufacturing, dairy, apiculture, and territorial authorities. Expanded in 2025 through joint venture.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Hill Laboratories product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hill Laboratories is an IANZ-accredited analytical testing laboratory providing chemistry and microbiological testing services across agriculture, environmental, and food sectors, plus independent inspection and certification services. The company uses state-of-the-art instruments and the latest methods to deliver per-test analyses covering water, soil, wine and beverages, asbestos, drugs of abuse, feed, food, microbiology, and plant and crop testing, and uses an online MyLab portal for sample registration, ordering, and results delivery.
Product overview
Hill Laboratories operates as New Zealand's largest privately owned analytical testing laboratory, offering a comprehensive portfolio of testing and inspection services organized into two main divisions: Testing Services and Inspection & Certification Services. The Testing division covers nine major categories (Asbestos, Drugs of Abuse, Feed, Food, Microbiology, Plant/Crop, Soil, Water, and Wine/Beverage) with sub-categories spanning hundreds of specific tests. The Inspection & Certification division provides services for Food Manufacturing, Dairy Manufacturing, Apiculture, Territorial Authorities, and Building Management. The MyLab customer portal enables online ordering, sample registration, and result delivery. Founded in 1984, the company expanded in 2025 through a strategic joint venture with Sam Brooks to enhance inspection and certification capabilities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Water Testing Chemistry and microbiological water testing suites designed for drinking water, agricultural water, eDNA testing, and other applications using latest technology.
- Soil Testing Complete range of soil tests evaluating fertility and soil health, including tests for organic certification requirements, contaminated soil assessment, and earthworm eDNA analysis.
- Wine and Beverage Testing Complete wine production testing including soil testing for vineyards, plant testing, winery water/wastewater, grape leaf roll virus, grape juice testing, wine composition chemistry, wine micro testing, export wine analysis, and spirits, beer, cider, and kombucha testing.
- Asbestos Testing IANZ-accredited analysis and reporting of suspected asbestos-containing materials, asbestos in soil, and asbestos fibre counting.
- Drugs of Abuse Testing Affordable methamphetamine drug testing services including meth testing in dwellings and urine drug testing, pioneered in the New Zealand market.
- Feed Testing Comprehensive feed testing services including pasture and forage analysis, silage testing, and compound feed analysis.
- Food Testing Extensive food testing covering fish, shellfish, aquaculture, cereal, grain, fruit, vegetable, meat, food pesticide residues, processed food, and honey analysis.
- Microbiology Testing Microbiological analysis including molecular and food microbiology, environmental and water microbiology, and 3-in-1/4-in-1 swab testing.
- Plant and Crop Testing Agricultural and horticultural testing for plants, crops, kiwifruit, avocado, medicinal cannabis, and hemp analysis.
- Honey Testing Extensive range of honey tests performed using the latest technology and methods, and analysed on state-of-the-art instruments.
- Other Testing Services Additional testing including mould testing, air quality assessment, effluent analysis, surface and swab testing, and compost/media analysis.
- Food Manufacturing Inspection & Certification Independent inspection and certification services for food manufacturing operations.
- Dairy Manufacturing Inspection & Certification Inspection and certification services for the dairy manufacturing sector.
- Apiculture Inspection & Certification Inspection and certification services for apiculture/beekeeping operations.
- Territorial Authorities Services Inspection and certification services for territorial authorities.
- Building Management Services Inspection and certification services for building management.
- MyLab Customer Portal Online customer portal enabling sample registration, online ordering, and result retrieval with scan-and-send functionality for Hill Labs testing services.
Quantifiable outcome
- Helping customers increase productivity, ensure safety, minimize environmental impact, and meet regulatory requirements
Companies that use Hill Laboratories
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Hill Laboratories technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Hill Laboratories partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Sam BrookscoreIn 2025, Hill Labs expanded service offerings through a strategic joint venture with Sam Brooks to enhance capabilities in inspection and certification services. This partnership strengthened Hill Labs' position in the inspection and certification market by combining their testing expertise with Sam Brooks' inspection capabilities.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Hill Laboratories competitors and assessment
Company assessmentRegional players
- ALS Limited: Australia-based testing services company with food, environmental, water, and life sciences divisions. Comparable to Hill Labs' multi-vertical testing model, with a primarily trans-Tasman regional focus.
- RJ Hill Laboratories: Australian-based agricultural, food, and environmental testing laboratory. Closely comparable vertically to Hill Labs in service mix, though operating in the Australian market rather than NZ.
Direct peers
- AsureQuality: New Zealand state-owned food and primary-industry testing, inspection, and certification company. Directly comparable to Hill Labs across food, dairy, agriculture, and apiculture testing and certification services in the NZ market.
- Analytica Laboratories: New Zealand-based commercial testing laboratory providing analytical services across agriculture, food, water, and environmental categories. Directly comparable smaller NZ private competitor to Hill Labs.
Emerging players
- Cawthron Institute: New Zealand independent science organisation offering analytical testing services for food, water, and environmental samples with IANZ accreditation. Comparable to Hill Labs' environmental and food testing capabilities in the NZ market.
Others
- Watercare Laboratory Services: NZ-based water quality testing operations supporting drinking water and wastewater compliance. Partial overlap with Hill Labs' water testing division; not a broad-vertical competitor but adjacent in the regulatory water testing space.
Broad incumbents
- Eurofins Scientific: Global leader in food, environmental, and agricultural testing with extensive service portfolios across the same verticals as Hill Labs. Operates at far greater scale and could expand or compete in NZ.
- Bureau Veritas: Global TIC (testing, inspection, certification) provider covering food, environmental, and agricultural commodities. Comparable operating model to Hill Labs' testing plus inspection/certification stack, but at vastly larger scale.
- Intertek: Global testing and inspection group with agricultural, food, and environmental testing capabilities. Overlaps significantly with Hill Labs' service lines and could target NZ customers directly.
- SGS SA: Global testing, inspection, and certification company with overlapping services in agriculture, food, and environmental testing. Highly comparable to Hill Labs' combined testing-plus-inspection-and-certification offering.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Hill Laboratories social profiles
Digital presenceHill Laboratories compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Hill Laboratories financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hill Laboratories leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Hill Laboratories funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hill Laboratories M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hill Laboratories
What does Hill Laboratories do?
Hill Laboratories is an IANZ-accredited analytical testing laboratory providing chemistry and microbiological testing services across agriculture, environmental, and food sectors, plus independent inspection and certification services. The company uses state-of-the-art instruments and the latest methods to deliver per-test analyses covering water, soil, wine and beverages, asbestos, drugs of abuse, feed, food, microbiology, and plant and crop testing, and uses an online MyLab portal for sample registration, ordering, and results delivery.
Is Hill Laboratories a public or private company?
Hill Laboratories is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Hill Laboratories founded?
Hill Laboratories was founded in 1984. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Hill Laboratories based?
Hill Laboratories is headquartered in Hamilton, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does Hill Laboratories make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Laboratory Testing Services are the primary driver. The others are inspection and Certification Services.
Who are Hill Laboratories's main competitors?
Regional players on record are ALS Limited and RJ Hill Laboratories. Direct peers are AsureQuality and Analytica Laboratories. Cawthron Institute is listed as an emerging player. Watercare Laboratory Services is listed as an others. Broad incumbents are Eurofins Scientific, Bureau Veritas, Intertek and SGS SA.
Does Hill Laboratories have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hill Laboratories.
What industry is Hill Laboratories in?
Hill Laboratories's product category is Analytical Testing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFALAAAA, Food Testing Laboratories (Microbiological, Chemical, Allergen), with a secondary code of AFAOAMAJ, Laboratory Analysis Services (Wet Chemistry, Microbiology for Grains). Its NAICS code is 54138 and its SIC code is 8734.