Denheath Desserts, with its famous custard squares, has been placed in liquidation.

The Official Assignee was appointed to Denheath Corporation Ltd last Thursday, a notice in the New Zealand Gazette said.

A little over 12% of Denheath shares were owned by the estate of Brian James Kenton. The executors of Kenton’s estate applied to the High Court at Timaru to liquidate the company in March.

The Official Assignee’s notice told creditors or anyone with information to help the liquidation process to contact them on the insolvency.govt.nz website.

Denheath’s directors, Donald and Lisa Templeton, had 71.49% of shares in the company. Geoff Cloake had 5.6%, Vaughan Moloney owned 4%, Albert and Raymond Gain owned 4%, Josephine Turnell, Mark and Sarah Lawson owned 1.6% and Kevin Guthrie 0.8%.

The Herald has approached Lisa Templeton for comment.

The Herald has not been able to access the company’s website following the announcement, and the Timaru Herald reported the business was closed when it visited.

Denheath once said its squares were “as Kiwi as alpine ranges, glacier-fed lakes and little men with hairy feet”.

The Official Assignee was appointed to Denheath Corporation Ltd last Thursday, a notice in the New Zealand Gazette said. Photo / Denheath Desserts

It also made profiteroles and cheesecakes. The name came from Denheath House – a country café at the old post office in sleepy little Pleasant Point, South Canterbury.

That was the birthplace of the uniquely different, light and fluffy Denheath Custard Square.

The original owners of the cafe where the squares were sold were Dennis Knight and his potter wife Heather, hence the name Denheath. Lisa Templeton worked in the Knights’ arts and craft shop in Pleasant Point when she was at secondary school.

The family-owned manufacturer has sold its products in more than 53 Costco outlets in NZ, Australia, Korea and Japan.

Templeton said Denheath was “lucky” in 2013 to forge into Costco Australia when the American-headquartered giant had only a few stores across the Tasman and was yet to open here.

The company was put up for sale at the end of 2023, the Timaru Herald said. Lisa Templeton was unwell at the time and wanted to spend more time with family, the paper reported.

The company launched a fundraiser for $1.2 million in 2016 to fund an upgrade of its factory. The fundraiser fell short, raising just under $380,000, the Timaru Herald said.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.