Support Local: New Zealand’s Only Synthetic Grass Manufacturer

After 40 years of proudly supplying New Zealand with top quality synthetic grass, we’ve learned a thing or two about the importance of supporting local businesses.

TigerTurf was founded in Auckland in 1981, and while we have grown to be an international business our roots remain right here.

We’re chuffed with the support we’ve earned from our community of Kiwis who know that New Zealand made means world-class quality, peak performance, jobs for locals and environmentally conscious manufacturing. So we’ve decided to jot down what being a New Zealand business means to us.

Kiwis are an inventive bunch, and we’re always coming up with new solutions to make life easier (and more fun!). From No.8 Wire mentality to the Zorb and Rocket Lab, we’ve shown that creativity, determination, and a good old can-do attitude leads to worldwide recognition, time and time again.

We’re no different at TigerTurf. We’re always pushing the edges of the technology we have available and coming up with useful innovations that change the game in synthetic grass manufacturing.

Our latest innovations include:

• Technology to transform end-of-life products into new products e.g. ECOCEPT™
• Developing non-infill field sport systems
• Leading-edge development of hybrid systems e.g. XtraGrass
• Developing systems that use alternative infills to SBR Rubber or non-infilled systems
• Developing systems that use ancillary components that are also friendly to the environment.
• Better quality more durable products that last longer and play better.

TigerTurf started in New Zealand and is now a global business. We now have offices in Australia, Asia, Europe, India, the UK and the USA, and we have agents world-wide.

But what really makes it world-class? Why, approval and certification from the world’s sporting bodies, of course! TigerTurf is now one of the world’s top suppliers of synthetic sports surfaces. FIFA, FIH, World Rugby, ITF, and World Bowls all give TigerTurf synthetic grass their seal of approval.

Honesty and fair play are innately Kiwi traits. We’ve got little time for liars and swindlers – we like it when people do what they say they’ll do, and don’t muck around. We value transparency and telling it like it is.

So when it comes to our supply chain at TigerTurf, we think we’ve got it pretty down-pat. TigerTurf is owned by TenCate Grass (global leaders in their own right), and they develop, produce, and market all of our synthetic turf components.

We control the quality at every step of the manufacturing process in our Auckland factory.

But more than that, we know and control where our raw materials originate:

• We know and control where and how our yarns are extruded
• We know and control which products go into our fibres
• We develop and manufacture the backing cloths that we tuft into
• We develop and manufacture the base products and shock pads, and build the performance bases that we lay our turf systems over
• We manufacture all our own surfaces in factories around the world
• We control the quality and performance standards of every synthetic turf system we create
• We have the ability to recycle old end-of-life products into new start-of-life products

Kiwis love a team player, and that’s just what we are at TigerTurf. We foster a positive, inclusive work culture, and we trust our team members to take initiative. Because of our non-hierarchical structure, our people take ownership of their own processes and improvements.

Many of our employees have been with us for over 10 years – we have an outrageously low turnover. That’s because we make sure that our people know they’re valued as part of our team.

But our teamwork goes beyond our organisation as well – we are very active in our local communities. We build strong relationships with the clubs and federations that use our products – and we train, play, and coach on them as well.

Kids are the future – Kiwi kids of today will be the athletes, innovators, and visionaries of tomorrow. So we know it’s important to give them the best start possible.

Our synthetic, all-weather turfs have been giving school kids all over the world the opportunity to be more active – encouraging more sports activity so that they can play – regardless of the weather.

TigerTurf’s multi-sport surfaces enable schools to:

• Accommodate several different sports with surfaces engineered to satisfy the performance criteria required for each sport
• Provide better value for money by accommodating many sports in a single area
• Inspire students to practise their skills on top class performance-based surfaces
• Provide high quality, customised solutions, usable regardless of the weather
• Extend playing hours, resulting in greater participation and enhanced skill development
• Provide surfaces that are available for play when other sports fields are closed, enabling planning and scheduling of training and games with confidence
• Reduce playground injuries.

New Zealand has long enjoyed a clean, green image, and most Kiwis will agree there’s no reason we can’t be at the leading edge of sustainable technology to see us safely into the future.

We’ve already mentioned our ECOCEPT™ sports base system, but we’ve yet to tell you why it’s so special:

It’s made of stuff you’d otherwise throw away.

That’s right – ECOCEPT™ is a high performance sports base made from old tyres and – importantly – old synthetic grass, allowing us to close the product loop and minimise waste from our products.

It took us three years to develop the technology to pull this off, but it’s definitely worth it – and we won’t stop there. At TigerTurf, we are always putting more into important research and development that will help provide sustainable solutions to our precious planet.

So, what does New Zealand made mean to you?