Businesses adding value to food, beverages and ingredients are among the 27 finalists in the 2012 New Zealand International Business Awards, which recognise the myriad of ways companies now do business globally.

Hamilton-based BioVittoria has harnessed the calorie-free sweetness of China’s little-known monk fruit to create an all-natural food sweetener. The company is setting itself up to compete in the US$50 billion per annum world sweetener market.

Yoghurt-lovers around the globe are latching on to the Kiwi fresh yoghurt making system EasiYo. The company manufactures and markets yoghurt makers and milk powder-based yoghurt mixes to consumers and foodservice customers around the world.

Westland Milk Products, which now owns EasiYo, manufactures and sells more than 90,000 metric tonnes of dairy products a year, 84 percent of which is sold overseas.

The majority of Westland’s core business is ingredients for other businesses, particularly those making nutritional products.

Canary Enterprises started out to ‘Make Butter Better’. With butter as its base product, it has created time-saving butter-based products for commercial kitchens, such as butter medallions, butter rosettes and pastry butter sheets. The company is now focused on ‘Making Food Fabulous’.

Dunedin company Seperex Nutritionals develops its bioactive research discoveries, such as peptides and lipids found in milk and seafood, into export earning food and health ingredients.

GMP Pharmaceuticals offers a one-stop shop for small New Zealand health supplement developers wanting their product manufactured, packed, exported and even launched.

Gourmet burger chain BurgerFuel has transitioned from a burger factory to an ideas factory, enjoying particular success in the Middle East.

Winners of seven categories at the awards, which are run by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and strategic partner ANZ, will be announced on Wednesday 21 March. Information about the finalists can be found at www.nzte.govt.nz/awards.