Hawke's Bay squash grower Shane Newman is one of the founders of the company. He is pictured with a kabocha. Photo / Supplied
Hawke's Bay squash grower Shane Newman is one of the founders of the company. He is pictured with a kabocha. Photo / Supplied
A Hawke's Bay start-up company which uses an obscure ingredient in its health drink product is continuing to turn heads overseas and rack up international awards - despite hitting the shelves only six months ago.
Kabocha Milk Co has won three international awards in a matter of months for itshealth drink which uses a key ingredient called kabocha, a type of squash similar to a pumpkin.
The plant-based milk scooped two awards last week at the 2022 World Food Innovation Awards in London - Best Health and Wellness Drink and Best Plant Based Beverage.
"It's great we can get that recognition particularly when we are just a small start-up business from New Zealand," Hawke's Bay squash grower Shane Newman said.
The obscure plant, kabocha, is mainly used as an ingredient in Japan but is also grown in Hawke's Bay by Newman.
He teamed up with Auckland-based chef Sachie Nomura who perfected the recipe for the drink, and the pair launched the company last year along with Nick Siu and Terry Daly.
The drink which is gaining a big reputation overseas. Photo / Supplied
While the drink is quickly gaining praise overseas Kiwis will have to wait a little while longer to try it.
It is currently 100 per cent exported and was designed for an "Asian palate". The company may release a small amount to the New Zealand market in the near future.
Newman said they launched a test production run about six months ago in Japan, which saw the drink being sold in stores.
All the drinks from that test run have sold out and the company is about to ship a much bigger batch to Asia as early as next month, including South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.
"We are about to go into full commercial production," Newman said, noting the next run would include at least a shipping container worth of the product.
The labelling will also be updated to show the awards before the next release.
The kabocha is all grown in Hawke's Bay and the drink is manufactured and packaged at Milk Kitchen in Whakatu, before being shipped from Napier.
Co-founder of the company and chef Nomura, originally from Japan, said she was rapt with the latest awards.
"I'm really proud to connect my two homes together, Japan and New Zealand, with a product I absolutely love.
"We are also very unique in the market in that we are true farmer-to-chef-to-bottle experience."
In December, the company also won the Best Plant-Based Beverage at the World Plant-Based Awards.
The Ministry for Primary Industries contributed more than $95,000 through its Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund (SFF Futures) to help the start-up company get started.
