The Country 08/07/24: Greg Coppell talks to Jamie Mackay

We head to St Arnaud to talk to the founder of Repost, a business built around recycling tanalised fence posts from Marlborough vineyards, and finalists in the Food, Beverage and Fibre Award category at the Primary Industry Awards last week in Wellington.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Greg, you've built a big business out of nothing. Tell
me how this came about.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Well, half Jamie, I sort of came. I brought her,
I was building, and I bought her five hundred heat yere.
She'd be probably at Saint Arden and she was pretty
average in the fencing department and pasture. So that's the
best thing to do was to get fencing. And with
Marlborough being on our doorstep or we knew that there

(00:25):
was a heap of broken vineyard posts there and that's
what we did. We got down there and got into
that and yeah, and then realized that there was such
a good quarrey and volume of posts down there that
we've probably turned it into a commercial business.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
So these posts have effectively never been in the ground
because I'm assuming they've snapped off at ground level or whatever.
Are they quarters or rounds or are they halves? What
sort of posts are we looking at? I don't know
much about vineyard fencing. Fill me in on the dimensions.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, hearts and quarters are the bulk, you know, the
best quality strength strengths. Wife, So yeah, that's pretty much.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
How long is your standard sheep post?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
So eighteen hundred as you stand in intermediate posts for
she can beef fencing and darius, but you know I
don't We also sell one point sixes as well, but
it's just because I don't think we need to be
building fences so high. But yeah, that's there at a
cheap cheaper price as well.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Well, hang on a minute, haven't you aren't you running
perindales on your sheet and beef property and Sonana there
they could just about high jump one point six, couldn't they?

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Bit of education around electric over the electrics that's slowed
them up.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
But what is the shelf life of these posts? Because
I think a tantalized post. If you buy one from
the timber yard or whatever, they guarantee them for fifty years.
These have been in the ground or above ground for
quite a while. How do you know how old they are?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
It's sort of visually grading. But we also get them
tested by hells and to make sure they're up to
a brand new injurry standard. So you know, you get
the sayings, do it, do it, do it once, do
it right. But there's there's exactly lightful light for a
new post with these these a minimum fifty years, which
exactly something goodful new posts. Some of them are between

(02:20):
one and one and ten or fifteen years old. But
you know, visually great and you get a fair idea
about how good the post is. And you know, we
have such a huge volume to work through that we
don't have to sell average product. So yeah, so you
know there's they break about a million in them, and
there's another about another million coming out of redevelopment. So
there's there's two hundred olde million. There's there's two million

(02:44):
posts coming out as available to us in Marlborough every year.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
So this might be a commercially sensitive question, Greg, but
do you get them for nothing? And that's part one
of the question. Part two is how much cheaper are
they than a brand new post?

Speaker 2 (02:59):
So the so the wine set to pay their way,
so we are pretty we're in one aspect brow waste company,
so they have to they pay about seventy percent of
landfill costs for us to take them, and that means
we can keep our price low so we can we
can move volume yere. So you need to be the

(03:21):
price point needs to be right to be able to
sell the end product. And that's yes, we're about we
started about three dollars for one point sixes and four
dollars per post for one point eight Well.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
That's certainly considerably cheaper than a new post. It's a
wonderful idea recycling tannalized post. Greg Copple with us from
Reposts just before we go, Greg, how's the farming season
been in Soanana? Because I know the Nelson region and
obviously North Canterbury, it's been very very drier, you guys
as equally dry.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, we're pinned actually, like normally we go good in
the dry, but it just stayed dry and then cold.
So yeah, I hope it's seen it like that. We
started feeding out very early and and yeah we've had
no you know, we just had had no growth since
since probably March probably, so we just had no autumn

(04:20):
and and and limited our water supply on our on
our hell blocks. So yeah, it's been a pretty tough
tough seasons so far, so with and especially with price
has been the way they are. So yeah, we're in
survival mate alone. But we'll we'll come out the other
side pretty good, I think.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
I hope, well, I hope mother nature comes up with
a kind spring for you. If people want to find
out more about Reposts, and get a hand or get
a hold of some of these cheap or cheaper recycled
tanalized posts. Well, what's your website?

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Were repost, dot co, dot m z and you'll probably
see us. You've probably seen us everywhere anyway, but I
hope so. But his Facebook and Instagram things like that
as well.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
But yeah, well, good on your great couple I think
you're doing. It's a wonderful initiative. And good luck with
your new business venture.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Thanks Jamie, good Met