OUR COMPANY

Find out about how where we started and how we’ve become the company we are today.

Established in Dunedin in 1986, Plypac Industries was started by a group of enterprising locals who set out to fund their local church’s activities.

Colin Young working on The Old Dixon Logstreamer original rewinder at 85 Fryatt Street
Times were tough and in 1988 the company was placed into receivership and sold to a group of five Dunedin shareholders with diverse range of backgrounds from Post Office technicians to running local drinking establishments.

Some of the new directors and shareholders.
Mayor Richard Walls opening the new factory in Dunedin.

Initially South Island focused, over the years the business expanded into the North Island market and the product range was increased. It now included facial tissues, napkins and products for the ‘away from home’ commercial locations, including hotels, offices and public bathrooms.
Some of these staff members are still with us today.
The Tuffy brand lead our entry into the Kitchen Towel category in 1996, after the arrival of our “Chan Li 101B” converting plant in Dunedin.

This line is now our second line in Auckland, and our Dunedin site has since stepped up to its bigger cousin. KiwiSoft graced the scene in 1999 and changed the toilet tissue market forever.
In 2002 Plypac Industries was renamed Cottonsoft Limited and the CottonSofts brand was born.
By 2006 the Cottonsoft business had reached the point where an additional manufacturing site was required and the Auckland factory in East Tamaki was opened in May 2007.
The Dunedin factory continues to play a key part in the South Island supply strategy.
In 2007 Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) became the preferred supplier for both product supply and technology guidance, supporting investment in the staff and supply lines to ensure continued growth in the local business.
In 2010 the Auckland factory was expanded to accommodate our ongoing growth. Our 'Away from Home' commercial market was expanding and Cottonsoft acquired Gracefield Limited, a distributor of products to customers in the ‘Away from Home’ market.
By 2011 the retail market had developed even further and consumers wanted luxury toilet tissue converted in New Zealand. The Paseo luxury brand was born to satisfy the most demanding of consumers.

Cottonsoft became market leader in both value* and volume* in the toilet tissue category. * Source. AZTEC. Volume. TKA. 03/10/2010. Value. TKA. 27/05/2012
2013 marks a new stage in the life of Cottonsoft. We have expanded our Dunedin converting operation to manufacture Paseo for the ﬁrst time and Tuffy once again in the South Island.

Cottonsoft is the only major tissue converting operation in the South Island.
Cottonsoft is now lead by the next generation team with sites in both Auckland and Dunedin. We remember where we have come from but continue to seek opportunities to enhance our reputation as a supplier of quality tissue based products to the New Zealand market.

Cottonsoft is a New Zealand operated and managed tissue converting company, manufacturing and distributing leading brands of high quality toilet and tissue paper products throughout New Zealand.

As a socially, economically and environmentally responsible company, Cottonsoft adheres to stringent New Zealand and international environmental laws, only sourcing fibres from internationally certified suppliers and only purchasing wood fibre from sustainably managed forestry sources.