Business all about sustainability

Hayden Booker and Bobbi Rodriguez of Vigour and Vitality inside their container ship commercial kitchen. Photo / Andrew Warner

A Katikati couple is using the power of fish to put its start-up business on the sustainable map.

Bobbi Rodriguez and Hayden Booker use a technique called aquaponics in their bid to become New Zealand's first fully sustainable business.

Aquaponics combined aquaculture (aquatic animals raised in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) and for the duo it would grow the ingredients used in their cold-pressed juice range.

Two pre-loved shipping containers set up on land neighbouring their Katikati home had become the hub for their business, producing raw, stone-ground nut butters and cold-pressed juices for wholesale around the country.

The idea for the food products came during a stay in Chicago, after they met at Massey University in Palmerston North.

Mr Booker studied nutrition at Massey and worked as a health coach in America and he and Miss Rodriguez partnered up to bring their dreams to life.

The business began to take shape in November when they returned to New Zealand and found their new home in Katikati.

Transforming a used shipping container into a commercial kitchen was a challenge to get it up to the right regulations but it was the cheapest and most versatile option for their sustainable dreams, Miss Rodriguez said.

"We wanted to be able to do our own thing with putting in solar panels and using the aquaponics system," she said.

The forward-thinking couple had recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on kickstarter.com with $1594 pledged so far and a goal of $5000 by February 18.

The money would go towards solar panels, small additions to their commercial kitchen and ordering more supplies to keep up with demand.

Their products can be found at Wild Earth Organics and the One Stop Gluten Free Shop in Tauranga.