Liquidation fears for awardwinning cheese company
Part owners of an award-winning cheese business is hoping to fight against a liquidation application by their business partners.
Dairy farmers Heather and John Lamers and business couple Diana and Alan Hawkins bought Loburn-based Karikaas in 2004.
The Lamers have now applied to the High Court to put the Karikaas Natural Dairy Products Holdings and an associated company into liquidation. They own almost 60% of the business.
It was founded by Karin and Rients Rypma, from the Netherlands, in the early 1980s to produce authentic Dutch-style cheese.
The North Canterbury company has won countless awards awards such as champion Dutch cheese, champion cheesemaker, champion export cheese and champion of champions: best cheese in New Zealand.
The Hawkins, who own more than 40% and run the business, want to continue.
According to a judgment in December by Associate Judge Dale Lester, the Lamers have wanted to leave since 2021.
They made a statutory demand – the first step in a process under the Companies Act to recover debts – for loans of $656,000 in July last year.
The money was loaned to the companies between 2004 and 2020. The amount is not disputed.
Diana Hawkins, who manages the business, told The Press the company was unable to repay the Lamers’ advances. “We are a solvent company and will honour all current and future debt,” she said.
She said she and her husband Alan wanted to buy the Lamers’ shares and hoped to have an agreement in place before the liquidation application is heard on April 18.
If negotiations failed and the company was put into liquidation, she still hoped to buy it.
“We haven’t given up hope. It’s been stressful while trying to run a company and we just celebrated our 40-year anniversary. I love the company and I want its existence to continue with us or without us. We make a really good product, we have just won another award. We are good at what we do and it would be a shame to go out now,” she said.
The business employed about nine people, some part-time, she said.
The Lamers did not respond to a voicemail or a request for comment through their lawyer.