Year 11 and 12 students, Amy Hay, 16, Hamish Ryall, 16, and Luke Jordan, 15, won the Te Arahanga Primary Industries National Excellence Award at the Young Enterprise Scheme National Pitches and Awards ceremony on Wednesday.

Their Flexi-Mat FrostEase invention is an outdoor grade PVC canvas and plastic mat welded together to create a layer of insulation to prevent troughs freezing over in winter.

The award, which is given in recognition to the YES company with the best business product relating to food or fibre, also came with $1000 prize money.

FrostEase has made the decision to hold off sales until next year, as they are keen to put their product under extensive testing to ensure high quality and durability.

They said they had already had a lot of interest from major farming supply companies and were aiming to secure a manufacturer to mass produce the product as they project high demand throughout the country for their Fleximat in 2022.

FrostEase will continue to participate in YES next year and say they have their eye on the top national prize.

South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce YES co-ordinator Stacey Gallagher said their had been plenty of out-of-the-box thinking from young entrepreneurs across New Zealand on display at the awards.

“The competition was fierce and FrostEase held their own, I look forward to seeing their progress in 2022,” Gallagher said.

FrostEase also received a high commendation from the judging panel.

“We love your work, and we can’t wait to see you come back next year, you showed innovation in your product, solving a real world problem for farmers.

“We can’t wait to see the sales results to really back up your vision, so please come back next year,” judge David Downs said.

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