‘Ugly’ fruit getting a second chance
When Emily Swan lived in Asia, she missed being able to bite into a piece of fruit, knowing the quality was guaranteed and it contained many of the nutrients she needed.
Back in New Zealand, she decided to find away to preserve the goodness of New Zealand agriculture all year round and share it with the rest of the world – while addressing the growing issue of food waste.
Her new business Vita Kiwi takes ‘‘ugly’’ New Zealand fruit that isn’t considered fit for export or local sale and turns it into premium superfruit powder that can be added to smoothies, cereal or juices.
Vita Kiwi is the Wellington winner of Shop Local, a campaign 2degrees has run in partnership with Stuff for the past four years to show community spirit and support local businesses that play a key role in our communities.
Shop Local gives businesses around the country a practical hand with marketing and advertising packages worth $20,000.
Swan applied for Shop Local thinking it would be the perfect way to get her fledgling business off the ground and was delighted to hear she’d been chosen as one of four national winners.
‘‘It felt fantastic to get the call because when you’re starting out you often feel like you are in a bit of a silo with your thinking and what you are trying to do,’’ she says. ‘‘It’s great that there is a company that wants to support small businesses.’’
The idea for Vita Kiwi came to Swan during the first lockdown in early 2020. She saw it as an ideal way to combine the things she’s interested in and put the spotlight on what New Zealand does best.
‘‘I’m passionate about our agricultural industry in New Zealand and the way it provides so many jobs,’’ she says. ‘‘Our superfruits have amazing nutritional benefits.’’
Harnessing the nutritional benefits of fruit such as kiwifruit and blueberries in powder form bypasses some considerable issues, including shelf-life and the cost and logistics of freight.
‘‘A lot of ugly fruit that’s not considered good enough for export or the New Zealand market, just because of how it looks, goes to waste. Vita Kiwi utilises what would otherwise be waste product,’’ Swan says.
Each sachet of powder is equivalent to the nutritional content of about one and a half kiwifruit, and Swan says it’s aboutmaking it easy for people to up their daily fruit intake.
‘‘With our busy lifestyles, and even in our new working-fromhome situation, it’s great to be able to put a sachet or scoop on your morning cereal and know you are getting all the antioxidants.’’
Swan’s plan is to see the product gain traction locally, before taking on the international market.
‘‘I’m passionate about finding ways we can efficiently take more New Zealand products overseas.’’
The 2degrees Shop Local campaign is about supporting local businesses. 2degrees is providing practical help by giving five $20,000 marketing and advertising packages to local businesses from:
■ Wellington region – see the winner on this page;
■ Marlborough – the winner was Thymebank;
■ Auckland (2 packages) – the winners were Book-a-bite and Fairplay;
■ And there is one further package to be decided by a People’s Choice vote, for a business from any of the three regions. Look out next week when we reveal the winner.