Small Business: Shamarra Alpacas founders on building agritourism success in Akaroa

Anya and Frank Walkington, founders of Shamarra Alpacas, lived in the Caribbean and Auckland before settling down in the picturesque Akaroa.

Anya and Frank Walkington, founders of Shamarra Alpacas, talk to Tom Raynel about their journey south to Akaroa, and how Covid forced them to innovate. Each Monday, we interview a small business owner, which is now a regular feature of NZME’s editorial campaign On The Up, showcasing uplifting stories of success, inspiration and possibilities.

What is Shamarra Alpacas?

Our farm tour is an opportunity to get up close and personal with alpacas, learn about this loving animal, and create some memories with friends and family in a stunning location.

Along with the farm tours, which are the core of the business, we also produce a range of products from the alpaca fleece here in New Zealand, as well as breeding and exporting alpacas overseas, mostly to the UK and Europe.

What inspired you to start the business?

It goes back 22 years ago when we first arrived in New Zealand in 2003 from the Caribbean, where we had lived for 20 years. We bought a lifestyle block north of Auckland, and we had some cattle which were not terribly inspiring.

We were looking for something else we could get more pleasure out of, but also produce a by-product, so we looked at alpacas. They weren’t exactly cheap, but once we decided we could do something with them, we started just meddling and processing the fleece.

We still had other businesses overseas, so it was more of a hobby for us in those days. But then we bought a property down here in 2010, down at Banks Peninsula, Akaroa. That was the catalyst to kickstart our agritourism business.

There are 170 alpacas on Shamarra Alpaca's Akaroa farm; visitors can take photos and feed them as part of the tour.

How many alpacas do you have, and what happens on the farm tour?

We’ve got about 170 alpacas on the farm, so that’s about 22 years of selective breeding to get the best quality of fleece, as well as temperament, which you can breed for as well. That’s an important part of what we do, because we want nice, friendly alpacas for our guests.

The tours we run seven days a week, three a day. We close two days for shearing and Christmas, and that’s it, we’re open all other days. We’ve got a great crew with permanent staff as well as more seasonal temporary staff as well. They’ve all got to be passionate about alpacas; that’s the only way you can work here.

The tours are very hands-on. Guests start with a nice introduction in our barn, where they get to admire a lovely quality fleece. We tell them what we do with the fleece, why we farm them, and little quirky things about alpacas. Then they get to visit two different groups of alpacas, our friendly male alpacas who love a selfie, and then another group of alpacas they get to feed, all with the incredible views of Akaroa.

Why make products, and what do you sell in the farm shop?

The big inspiration to make products was when we first started getting cruise ship tourists who said they wanted New Zealand-made products. The whole process isn’t simple, because there aren’t many places that you can actually produce alpaca products in New Zealand.

We produce blankets, which is a different process from our knitwear. There’s only one place in New Zealand where we can get the yarn spun for that, which is outside of Wellington. The other processing of the yarn is spun up at again, the only existing facility in New Zealand, in Napier.

The fleece is all sorted, skirted, and divided into different micron bandwidths. We process all fleece of the same quality in its natural colours, so we don’t dye anything, which elevates it to something much more unique. We also don’t wholesale, so if you want to buy our product, you’ve got to come to the farm or you buy it through our online shop.

Shamarra Alpacas farm shop sells a full range of alpaca fleece goods, including sweaters, blankets and yarn itself, all in their natural colours.

Have tourist numbers returned to pre-Covid levels for you?

During Covid, there was a major contraction. That’s when we pivoted to the domestic market, which everyone was hungry for. Fortunately, everyone was also supporting New Zealand-made, so our online shop was really busy.

We also did virtual farm tours with groups from all over the world. Our tour guide would go around the farm with a selfie stick and introduce often corporate groups online to our alpacas. We had that on offer for about a year, but not anymore.

Fortunately, since the borders have opened up, things have made a big comeback. Last year was the busiest year we’ve ever had pre-Covid, and this year looks like it’s tracking to be even busier than that.

What would be your advice to a budding entrepreneur wanting to start a business?

I would say find something unique, different, and quintessentially New Zealand. Just find a special little corner and just go for it. Customer service is also huge. We find that so many people are blown away at how nice the staff are, because there’s a lot of places you go that maybe that isn’t the case.

Do you have a small business story you want to share? Send your pitches to tom.raynel@nzme.co.nz.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.