Kia Ora Koutou,

The Purerua Packing Co. Teatowels are back in stock...

The Purerua Packing Co. was established by Walter Mountain in the early 20th century. A keen pugilist, Walter travelled to Australia to fight on the boxing circuit – he was even the State Boxing Champion of Queensland for a time – eventually returning home to take up gum digging on the family farm at Purerua Peninsula, the northern arm of the Bay of Islands.

Exhausting the Kauri gum, Walter built a cannery and produced tinned mullet, caught by local Maori at Te Tii during the summer, corned beef from the family farm in the winter, and plum pudding & jams of all descriptions all year round under the name ‘Penguin Brand'.
Legend has it that Walter was also a slygrogger, smuggling rum up the coast to Whangaroa during the temperance years. The barrels of rum were hidden in caves by day and then rowed up on moonless nights by Walter’s hand -picked crew of crack rowers who were so good they were never caught!

The Stone Store (Located in Kerikeri and proudly looked after by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga) stocked ‘Penguin Brand’ cans of Mullet, Corned Beef and Plum Pudding, until the late 1930s.

‘The Purerua Packing Co.’ is long gone but these tea-towels are printed using the original labels and are available exclusively at the Stone Store and Heritage New Zealand’s Online Store.

Mullet and beef Purerua co teatowels are sold separately. Please ensure you have requested your desired teatowel before processing your order at checkout.