The story
Kapiti was founded in 1984 by Ross McCallum and Neville McNaughton as a small cheese shop and factory at Lindale Tourist Complex on the Kāpiti Coast. The shop and factory initially employed only one full-time employee, with help from a number of part-time employees. By 2002 the company had 150 employees and retail outlets in Auckland, Christchurch and Lindale, assisted by an expansion of production facilities in 1997, and consistent annual growth. On 15 November 2005, Fonterra agreed to purchase Kapiti Fine Foods Ltd from its previous owner, Foodstuffs. In 2019, Kapiti ice cream was licensed to Froneri as part of Fonterra's sale of the Tip Top ice cream brand.
In 2019, the company announced that it was closing its factory in Paraparaumu.
On 11 November 2024, Fonterra confirmed that it would be selling several of its consumer brands including Kāpiti. Kapiti was sold to the French conglomerate Lactalis in 2025.
From Wikipedia’s article on Kapiti Fine Foods, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4