Image: The all-good, all-Kiwi Korromatt®

Media Release
19 November 2002

The all-good, all-Kiwi Korromatt®

Good old Kiwi know-how doesn’t get better than this. Launched at the 2002 Ellerslie Flower Show, new Korromatt® corrugated weed-mat is proving to be yet another New Zealand success story.

Made from natural materials, Korromatt® is the first 100% organic and totally biodegradable product of its kind on the market, and is attracting wide interest internationally as well. It enhances the growth of all plants, shrubs, trees and crops while suppressing weed challenge and growth at the same time. Specially impregnated with fertilisers, its corrugated profile disperses water and allows airflow to the soil beneath. It also attracts tilling, meaning worms love it!

Director Kevin Rix-Trott was astounded the basically simple theory hadn’t been thought of before, “but often in life it’s the really simple things that people walk past,” he says. He adds that by taking basic Kiwi ingenuity and combining it with the work of scientists, he believes he has created a truly revolutionary and environmentally friendly product.

“We have had absolutely nil negativity when talking to people about this product,” says Rix-Trott. “It’s simply a magic alternative to all that has gone before and people are really getting excited.”
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Research conducted by Lincoln Ventures Ltd. and Unitec Auckland studied topics such as bio-degrade times, crop research into growth, weed suppression effect, soil temperature control and, most importantly, evaporation, producing some astonishing facts. Consequently, there was huge interest in the product almost from its inception, Mr Rix-Trott says.

It’s little wonder then that potential markets such as home gardeners, horticulturists, viticulturists, forestry, crop-growers, local bodies – in fact anyone with an interest in planted areas – are rapidly embracing this efficient and environmentally-friendly product.

The next step for Rix-Trott is a move into more specialised uses for the product, such as impregnating the basic Korromatt® with different combinations of ingredients for its intended use. There is also a world of opportunity for the product internationally, for example, to aid the drought problems facing Australia.

The commercial expectations have no boundaries, and the product is in line with the essentially New Zealand Eco-conscious philosophy, Rix-Trott says.

Korromatt® will be available as rolls of 5 metres, 10 metres and 75 metres by 1 metre wide and also as tree rounds. The recommended retail price is $3.99 per metre. On sale at Palmers Garden Centres, Kings Plant Centres, the BBQ Factory and Mitre 10, by February 2003 Korromatt® will be available from 600 outlets nationwide.

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For further information, please call:
Kevin Rix-Trott Tel: 09 634 6615

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