— About Us
Forthright Limited is a wholesale fertiliser importing company.
Trading under the name Phosta. We supply to the wholesale market a range of products that are more than just NPK.
Tom van Dam (Founder), Annelies (GM) & Susan Haldane (Co-Founder)
“We are the only company that imports guano from Indonesia that has its own staff and our own laboratory. Nothing leaves Indonesia without being approved by us.”
— Tom van Dam, Founder
— How we got here
Our History
2007
As an agricultural consultant, Tom explores sources of quality fertiliser.
2010
Forthright Limited is launched and our brand Phosta is established.
Initially, we only import guano, a true soft rock phosphate with little fluoride and very low cadmium. It is found in few places, with Indonesia having large, fragmented deposits.
2013 & 2014
We employ 2 staff in Indonesia, Ike manages things logistical and administrative, and Dewi ,a trained chemist, oversees production from source to packing. We are able to maintain quality control through our own staff and our own laboratory. Nothing leaves Indonesia without being approved by us.
2017
We introduce Phosta K, a potash product that contains sulphur.
2018
Annelies joins Forthright. Her computer and logistical skills add a new vitality to the business.
2021
We release Phosta N, an organic nitrogen product in both liquid and solid forms.
Annelies becomes a shareholder and director in Forthright Limited.
Forthright loses a staff member in Indonesia to COVID-19, Dewi Rukiyati.
2023
Forthright develops new Potassium product, Phosta Multi K.
— Meet the Experts
Our Team
Annelies Vautier
Annelies and her husband moved to Hawkes Bay in 2017, where they now raise their three young boys. After joining Forthright in 2018, Annelies has streamlined systems, created individual customer portals for their orders, implemented cloud services, lowering paper waste and having information on hand from the farm to the office.
Her past experiences put her in a great position to ensure that Forthright continues to innovate and provide a quality service to the customer.
In 2024, Annelies is now the Managing Director of Forthright Limited
Ike Giarti
Living is Surabaya, Indonesia and received a Bachelor Degree 's in Industrial Engineering from University of Surabaya.
Joined with Forthright Ltd as Logistics & Liaison Manager in 2013. Ike is responsible for everything in Indonesia, including, working alongside all of Forthright’s suppliers, organising the shipments and controlling and monitoring them, to ensure prompt and proper transport of our products.
Tom van Dam
Tom van Dam is the founder of Forthright Ltd. Tom holds a Master’s Degree in Organic Chemistry and after writing his thesis on ‘Colour in Red Wine’, went on to become a grape grower and winemaker for over 30 years. This work fostered a deep interest in soils and trace elements, so after 30 years, Tom left winemaking to the new generation of winemakers and retrained as a soil consultant with Brookside Laboratories in the U.S.
In his first years as a soil consultant, Tom found that farmers consistently complained that traditional fertilisers were not delivering the desired results, so he went looking for alternatives around the world.
The search took him Indonesia, the country in which his own father grew up. That was over 10 years ago. Forthright now employs staff in Indonesia and has long term relationships with several suppliers. Here in New Zealand, Tom is proud to also have one of his four daughters, Annelies, in the business.