The Te Kai group of companies
All companies have a beginning, ours was in an old chicken shed in 1979 in the town of Masterton - North Island, New Zealand, population 20,000, two years later the company was moved south some 14 kilometres to it's present purpose built site in the small rural town of Carterton, population 4100.
Pooling together a wealth of
experience and having an earnest desire to succeed, the parent company:
Te Kai Pacific Ltd - was founded by father and son Rob and Matt Carter. Both continue to be extremely active in all three companies today. With a strategy for absolute quality and precision the basis was set to cut and polish large volumes of paua shell (New Zealand's abalone) cabochons (calibrated stones for the jewellery trade) for the world jewellery manufacturing market.
To date the Te Kai Pacific group of companies is one of the largest suppliers of shell products in New Zealand and employ over 40 people manufacturing a large range of jewellery, gifts and souvenirs from paua shell, mother of pearl, pink mussel shell, New Zealand nephrite jade, bone, glass and various types of resin.
New Zealand Shellcraft, our wholesale division, was set up in 1985 to distribute our New Zealand made gift and souvenir range to retailers around both New Zealand and Australia, supplying over 500 outlets to date.
Paua World, our retail tourist attraction, was set up in 1987 to allow the public to experience first hand the factory in action. While drinking a complimentary coffee or tea, see an interesting video of the life cycle of the paua, a salt water aquarium with live paua, seahorses and other sea critters which is also a popular part of the attraction. A strong emphasis is put on the educational aspect of preserving our national shell, "the paua".
All our product range is on display for purchase at very competitive prices in our factory retail shop. To date some 60,000 visitors are welcomed to our attraction each year.
All three companies are continuing to expand and develop new lines.
Thank you for choosing our site and we look forward to supplying you with our quality New Zealand made gifts and souvenirs in the future.
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