Win a big boost for smoothie business
A Taranaki iwi-owned smoothie company is going national after its latest competition success.
Kaitahi As One makes instant smoothie drops which people add to water or milk and shake, with no blender required.
The company, owned by South Taranaki iwi Nga Rauru K¯ıtahi, won the small supplier category at the Foodstarter awards in Auckland this month and the prize includes business mentoring, research and development and the chance to have its products stocked in all New World supermarkets around the country.
The smoothie drops are currently in about 80 stores and supermarkets, Kaitahi working group lead Arohaina Owen said. ‘‘There’s at least 140 New Worlds; we have five at the moment. Things are going to go boom.’’
Kaitahi uses kawakawa and puha among other fruits and berries in its smoothie drops, which were launched in 2018.
Before the Foodstarter Final on April 15, Kaitahi was awarded $54,000 from High-Value Nutrition Ko Nga¯ Kai Whai Painga, the New Zealand National Science Challenge.
At present, the Kaitahi team of seven has only two fulltime staff.
‘‘Most of us have other employment, too,’’ Owen said. ‘‘Our team is made up of goodwill, part-time and lots of love.
‘‘This is intergenerational work and an intergenerational business. We have got big dreams. We have to make sure everything we do is going to be here for our babies, and we direct employment and revenue back to our community, back to our iwi.’’
The products are manufactured in the Hawkes Bay, but they plan to bring the whole process in-house, creating jobs.
‘‘We eventually want to own the whole value chain,’’ Melody Te Patu, national production manager, said.
Rangatahi are involved in harvesting the puha and kawakawa grown in the iwi’s nursery, and they learn more than just the practical side, Te Patu said.
‘‘We bring our traditional ways of harvesting. With the karakia and prayer we do, we are harvesting to respect the mana of the kai, then these become part of the norm again.’’
Venture Taranaki chief executive Justine Gilliland said Kaitahi was a great success story.
‘‘It is an example of what we are trying to achieve here in Taranaki.’’