Mark of approval: Facial mist firm Te Wai attains NZ government’s FernMark to further international ambitions

Te Wai, Māori for the water, is the maker of a facial mist is made with pure New Zealand water that is infused with five native extracts: Kawakawa, Manuka, Kowhai, Mamaku, and Pohutukawa.

Recently, the brand has received the FernMark licence as part of the New Zealand government’s official ‘country of origin’ accreditation programme, designed to protect and promote New Zealand products to the world.

To become a FernMark licensee, a company must fulfil a list of requirements, including having a substantial level of New Zealand ownership, governance, and employees.

Additionally, the products must be made, grown, or designed in New Zealand, and have been exported for at least 12 months. 

CEO Carrick Graham told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that the company was ‘thrilled' to be awarded the license.

Te Wai was founded with the goal of developing it into an internationally recognised New Zealand brand “from day one” ​and the company is hopeful FernMark license will aid expansion plans overseas.

“It’s great to have the recognition from the government. Hopefully, it gives international distributors and consumers huge amounts of confidence when buying Te Wai because it is a genuine New Zealand product,” ​said Graham.

Helping expansion efforts

Since its launch in 2020, the company has expanded to Australia, Singapore and China.

Despite the uncertainly and instability of the past year, the company has observed both sales and brand awareness growing.

This year, the company is continuing to actively pursue new overseas market opportunities to expand its global reach. It is currently in discussion to export its products into the UK, UAE and India.

The company believes that having the FernMark license can help its expansion efforts and validate the brand’s integrity and authenticity as a New Zealand product.

“We spend a fair amount of time on building relationships as we explore these markets. With FernMark, it should hopefully encourage distributors to actually have more confidence that the product is worth it,”​ said Graham.

Furthermore, it can help reinforce Te Wai’s brand story, which can help it connect with international consumers.

“Research shows that more and more, customers are interested in the background story of a product. Where’s it from? How’s it made? What makes it special? Communicating our country of origin and our New Zealand story helps meet this need,” ​said Graham.

He added that New Zealand products in general appeal to international consumers as the country is known to create “outstanding and world-class products”.​

“We may be down the bottom of the world, but we've certainly got very creative and innovative ideas.”​

As authenticity is an important factor, consumers can check the licence number with the official New Zealand website to check and make sure they are buying authentic New Zealand products.

Additionally, as a FernMark licensee, the brand is protected from the illegitimate use of its name, adding another level of safeguards for consumers, said Graham.

“It gives both consumers and our company peace of mind through the work of global monitoring service, Yellow Brand Protection. The service trawls over 800 online trading sites for any illegitimate use of the FernMark and Te Wai brand. That’s good news for consumers, as it maintains the credibility and integrity of the products you're buying.”​