In 1988 a pair of scientists working for what is now Dow AgroSciences saw an opportunity to quit the corporate world and inspired by a shipment of medium-density fibreboard (MDF) they developed an anti-mould product. Sources: Stuff NZ, Fairfax NZ News
The MDF from Kaitaia turned up in Japan covered in mould so Peter Hayward and George Mason developed an anti-mould product to be added to the glue that held engineered wood together.
About 25 years later, their research and development-based company Zelam, still Taranaki owned and operated, has 45 staff and exports timber treatment and agricultural products all over the world.
In October, the company received a growth grant of about NZ$1 million to be used over a three-year period from crown entity Callaghan Innovation.
To be eligible for the grants, companies must spend a minimum of 1.5% of revenue on research and development.
Zelam spends about six times that amount and 15 of its staff, five of whom have PhDs, are employed for research and development.
At the company’s main research facility in Bell Block, white labcoated staff work with machines that have unpronounceable names, in a laboratory crammed with serpentine glass tubes, flasks and beakers.
Across the road in a lab dedicated to timber research, the company has the facilities to create its engineered woods to use for testing.
The room is filled with pieces of wood, both engineered and natural.
Partly chewed plastic tupperware boxes contain stacks of cigarette-packet sized, termite-ravaged samples.
Over the years, the company has developed different timber products to deal with mould, decay and insects, as well as horticultural products to fight weeds and disease.
“On the timber side of the company, our biggest market is driven by termites in Australia,” Zelam’s general manager Andrew Thompson said.
Its biggest client is a mill in the US state of Washington that manufactures timber, which is then sent to Australia.
In Omata, Zelam has a secure farm and orchard where it tests the pesticides, herbicides and fungicides developed by the company.
In the “graveyard” area, wood treatments are tested by applying them to stakes that are left in the ground for up to 10 years.
Zelam’s research continues in other parts of the world. In North Queensland, staff scientists test termite treatments by leaving wood samples near the insects’ hills.
In Hawaii, wood is left out in the heat and rain to test how quickly it will decompose after certain treatments.
Research manager Paul Lobb said he likes to personally oversee the projects in Hawaii when he can.
Zelam is looking into future developments, such as fire retardants and wood hardening solutions.
Staff work closely with clients to develop products to suit their needs. Lobb said the company recently worked with a Japanese client who wanted to develop harder veneer flooring, as some Japanese people were beginning to move away from the tradition of not wearing shoes inside.
Like the company’s founders, who still own Zelam, Lobb came from a science background and worked for Dow for 25 years before moving on. He has been at Zelam for 16 years and said he has seen the business go from strength to strength.
“I joined, when most sales were on the timber side, to increase the agricultural sales so the company wasn’t so vulnerable,” he said. He and the team did the job.
About 75% of the company’s revenue now comes from ag- sales and Zelam is trying to focus on its timber side again.
“Agriculture is seasonal – if spring doesn’t arrive we don’t sell anything,” Thompson said.
“Timber is all year round, it’s production orientated. The same amount of wood is always coming out of the factory.”
He said rebuilding, particularly in Christchurch and post-flood Queensland, was having a positive impact on the business.
The company had found ways to fight mould, insects and decay, and would now focus on other areas.
“Pinus radiata is a good wood, but it’s not strong,” Lobb said. “There are ways of changing that.”
