PHOTO: STUFF Anna Mowbray, who is chief operations officer for toy company Zuru.
A toy business that started in a shed on a Waikato farm in 2004 is now one of the biggest in the world – producing booty-shaking llamas, rainbocorns and huge bunches of water balloons for kids all over the world.
Its turnover last year topped $850 million and it now has 5500 staff in its toy business.
While you probably know of Zuru as the provider of thousands of kids’ birthday presents, some of its most rapid growth is now coming from other parts of the retail environment, including nappies, haircare, vitamins, skincare and pet food.
Zuru also operates a consumer business, Zuru Edge, which describes itself as delivering “disruptive brands in big, stodgy consumer goods categories”. Recently, it’s made big strides into a range of other product categories.
Zuru’s Rascal + Friends nappy brand will expand into 24 markets around the world this year. Its Monday haircare range will go into the United States at the end of the year, as well as Tesco and Boots outlets in the United Kingdom. It has partnered with Nood, a new pet food brand, to launch internationally.
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