Christchurch-based dry food manufacturer Wimpex Ltd has been placed in voluntary liquidation, potentially leaving 55 people without work unless a buyer comes forward. Rising insurance costs were among the factors spurring the liquidation, according to WImpex founder Vladan Vukovic.
The decision to liquidate marks the end of a 45-year journey that began in Yugoslavia with an egg farm run by Vukovic and his wife, Nataša. According to The Press, the couple moved to New Zealand in 2004 and rebuilt the business from the ground up, eventually turning it into the country’s largest manufacturer of dry food packaging.
“That was a 20-year-old business that got bombed and wiped out by physical force, and then we came here and created something very good from nothing again – took us one-and-a-half decades,” Vukovic told The Press.
The firm’s collapse was driven by a combination of factors, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting hardest. Exports to China fell from $20 million to $5 million a year.
Vukovic said he had retained the company’s 120 employees for as long as possible in the hope the export market would recover. “It simply didn’t happen,” he said.
The company reduced its workforce and pivoted to the domestic market, but local demand could not replace lost Asian orders. Rising costs, particularly for rent, rates, and insurance, further strained the business. “Everything just kept going up – rent, rates, insurance – and we couldn’t keep up,” Vukovic said.
Wimpex had been operating at a loss for months before Vukovic made the “unbearable” decision to liquidate. He described the affected employees as “personal friends” and “close family.”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t find support from anyone and this is what hurts the most,” he said. “It sounds ironic, but the only sort of people that help are actually banks. Starting again at 55? I’m not sure that’s going to happen.”
Judith Shields and Malcolm Hollis, both licensed insolvency practitioners, were appointed as joint and several liquidators on September 4. Creditors have until Oct. 17 to submit claims and establish any priority for distributions under the Companies Act 1993.
Wimpex’s factory, located in the Waterloo Business Park in Islington, Christchurch, stands as a reminder of the company’s decades-long journey from humble beginnings in Yugoslavia to becoming a major player in New Zealand’s food packaging industry.
Kiwis have been feeling the strain of rising insurance premiums, with the total cost of household insurance rising by $1,610 over the past three years.
According to comparison platform Quashed, the average New Zealand household spends $5,154 per year on home, contents and auto insurance – a 6% jump from the year prior.
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