23/04/2026
Throwback Thursday
Peter Pan Frozen Foods, Waipukurau
Thomas Clement Denne, with his wife Agnes and three young sons, Jack, Tom and Haydn, moved to Waipukurau in 1926. He began manufacturing “Denne’s quality Drinks” in a small building near the corner of Cook and Ruataniwha Streets.
In the late 1920’s, Thomas Denne was searching for something to add to his soft drink production, when he came across basic equipment for the manufacture of ice cream. He bought these few items from his friend Lionel Swain, who was proprietor of ‘The Peter Pan Lounge’ tearooms in Waipawa.
Thomas envisaged a very restricted future for bulk ice cream production because refrigeration facilities were limited at that time. But he went ahead anyway and added a 16-foot lean-to on to his soft drink factory, built a small freezer and ice tank (to make ice) and bought an ammonia compressor for refrigeration. Ice cream was initially churned in a bucket and sold in bulk.
This small beginning was the start of a family business that grew from employing 3 staff to 153 with a vehicle fleet of 52 during peak production in the early 1970’s. It involved three generations and ultimately the distribution of ice cream and a great variety of frozen foods throughout most of New Zealand and the Pacific.
The name “Peter Pan” was the idea of Thomas’s imaginative friend, Lionel Swain and this name – connected with the timeless children’s story of the boy who never grew up – proved to be a great selling point.
The Company was sold to Hellaby Group in 1976. Following several partial closures and mergers the premises operated as ‘Peter Pan Sales, Waipukurau’ until 1986. Then in 1988, the paperwork was filed for closure of the last division.
