Of Taranakipine

Tom has more than twenty years experience in the wood processing and forest industry.  In 1987 he completed a New Zealand Certificate in Forestry while employed with the NZ Forest Service followed by a Diploma in Business Studies at Massey University.  Additionally, while working full time for Fletcher Challenge Forest, Tom also successfully completed an MBA through Henley Management College’s distant learning program.

After completing his tertiary studies and two years of overseas travel Tom began a ten year career with Fletcher Challenge Forests.  The first five years where spent in the forestry side of the business with roles in forest establishment, silviculture, harvest planning, and distribution.  The second half of the career with FCF included site manager of Kawerau sawmill, developing engineered wood business in Japan and the partnership manager for the Central North Island Partnership during its difficult times.

After FCF Tom managed Green Triangle Forest Products (Weyerhauser company) in Mt Gambier, South Australia, then returned to NZ to set up Australian owned K&S Freighters Ltd in New Zealand.  After two years in the transport industry Tom realised there was more sawdust in his blood than diesel so returned to the wood products industry taking on the site manager position at Tokoroa Plywood with Carter Holt Harvey.

In 2007 Tom left the corporate world to join Taranakipine as CEO and shareholder based in New Plymouth.  He has focused the business strategy on the export of value added wood products and has just recently completed a multi-million dollar upgrade to the operation using the world’s latest wood processing technology.  Tom has also become more involved in the wider forest industry with an executive role on the NZPMA.  Tom is a keen advocate of the NZ and Australian forestry and wood processing industries combining forces where appropriate to make our industry more competitive in the international environment.

Locally, Tom is married and has two children at Mangorei School.  The family are actively involved in many sports throughout Taranaki and are avid skiers.  Originally from Waverley (father Roger is from New Plymouth), Tom has brought his family back to Taranaki after 25 years away in other parts of the world and NZ.

About Taranakipine

TaranakipineTM is a privately owned and operated business that specialises in the design and manufacture of value added exterior and interior wood products. We process 100% New Zealand Radiata pine logs from sustainably managed, renewable plantation forests. Our finished products are FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) environmentally certified.
We are a leading supplier of housing components such as weather boards, fascia, laminated posts, structural pergola products, handrails, trimboards and window reveals to our customer base in New Zealand, Australia and USA. We also support our local New Zealand market with house framing and treated outdoor products.
We pride ourselves on understanding our customer’s needs, manufacturing to industry standards, and servicing customers with quality products that will stand the test of time. Our products have warranties which are supported by controlled built-in quality processes throughout the entire manufacturing process.

First established in 1917, Taranakipine is headquartered in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

We pride ourselves in meeting our customer's expectations and our reputation is based on product quality and service.