Fresh Office, Cottonsoft & Essity take top honours at Supplier Expo

25 August 2023 - OfficeMax, New Zealand’s leading workplace solutions provider, named Fresh Office ‘Supplier of the Year’ at its 2023 Re-Think Supplier Expo, held at Claudelands Conference & Exhibition Centre in Hamilton last night.

OfficeMax, whose product range extends to more than 35,000 stocked products for business, government, education and consumer customers, works with hundreds of suppliers annually to deliver its vision of empowering sustainable and successful workplaces.

After a four-year hiatus of the Supplier Expo event, OfficeMax Director of Merchandise, Richard Meares, said “It was fantastic to reconnect with our incredible suppliers, give thanks and acknowledge the incredible partnerships we have.”

“More than 45,000 packages leave our two Distribution Centres every week, and we know that we have a significant role to play in driving success for New Zealand businesses and sustainable outcomes; we can’t do that without our suppliers,” he said.

On the night, New Zealand owned stationery wholesalers Fresh Office, took out the Supplier of the Year award, in acknowledgement of its ‘year-on-year growth, forward thinking, and customer-centric approach to business partnership.’

Tissue paper products manufacturer, Cottonsoft, took out the award for Everyday Operational Excellence, with the judges noting its ‘consistent supply-chain excellence’, while Essity Australasia was awarded the prestigious Sustainability Leader Award.

“We received some really strong submissions for the Sustainability Award,” said Richard. “All the entries demonstrated a real commitment to a more sustainable future, and selecting a winner was very difficult. In the end, the judges agreed that Essity had made significant strides forward implementing sustainability packaging initiatives, had the strongest commitment to carbon reduction and a deep sense of social responsibility for New Zealand communities,” he said.

OfficeMax together with Essity are jointly delivering the Government’s Ikura period products in schools initiative.

In July this year, OfficeMax launched its Responsible Supplier Code and Sustainable Packaging Guidelines for domestic and international suppliers to improve the social and environmental footprint of its supply chain, as part of a long-term commitment to empowering successful and sustainable workplaces.

Cottonsoft also took out the people’s choice award for Inspirational and Innovative Exhibitor Stand.