On Friday night, local exporters from across the Bay of Plenty came together to celebrate those ‘raising the bar' to export success at the 2017 Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards, sponsored by Zespri International.

All five winners were announced at a Rio Carnival themed awards event at ASB Baypark Stadium Lounge in Mount Maunganui.

The venue was transformed to fit the theme, with Ben Hurley MC'ing the event and working with the Brazilian Divas to entertain the crowd.

Exporters from across the region were present at the event, with Dominion Salt taking out the ‘Sharp Tudhope Lawyers Exporter of the Year' award and George & Willy winning the ‘YOU Travel Emerging Exporter of the Year' award.

YOU Travel Emerging Exporter of the Year Award - George & Willy with Kay Rogers of YOU Travel.

Andy Cameron, a well-known and respected local businessman and managing director at Oasis Engineering, with a passion for valves and giving back to the community, was the very surprised and humbled recipient of the ‘New Zealand Trade & Enterprise Service to Export' award. He was recognised for his outstanding contributions within the Bay of Plenty business and export community.

In a highly contested category with phenomenal finalists, Felipe Aguilera, a technical sales engineer at Oasis Engineering, was recognised as an integral cog in the Oasis wheel in the ‘Beca Export Achievement' category. Steens Honey were identified as the winner of the ‘Page Macrae Engineering Innovation in Export' Award shaking up the export world through their innovative business practices.

Beca Export Achievement Award winner Felipe Aguilera with Gavin Frost of Beca.

The high calibre of companies and individuals who were named finalists in this year's awards meant there was serious competition across each and every category. As with any awards, there could only be one winner in each category.

YOU Travel Emerging Exporter of the Year Award

George & Willy

Page Macrae Engineering Innovation in Export Award

Steens Honey

Beca Export Achievement Award

Felipe Aguilera – Oasis Engineering

New Zealand Trade & Enterprise Service to Export Award

Andy Cameron

Sharp Tudhope Lawyers Exporter of the Year Award

Dominion Salt