Whanganui/Waverley 'superfood' by Ngā Rauru iwi to be sold by Countdown

An award-winning food product designed and manufactured by Waverley's Ngā Rauru iwi could be launched later this month at the Auckland Food Show.

The Kaitahi Native Superfood Company is ready for its next big move, Ngā Rauru acting general manager Leonie Matoe said.

The company's Kaitahi Frozen Superfood Smoothy Drops were tried by attendees at the Iwi Chairs' Forum in Whanganui in May last year, then were judged overall innovation champion at the Fine Food New Zealand Innovation Awards in June.

"That really opened the doors to us to work with Countdown. They approached us after the show and we have been working with them since October," Matoe said.

This month the product took top prize in the Te Manu Atatū Māori Business Awards in Whanganui, and Matoe is hoping it will be launched afresh during the Auckland Food Show on July 25-28.

She has nine tonnes of the smoothy drops ready to distribute to 30 Countdown supermarkets. They are packaged in new 400g packs, which include information for customers. Matoe and her team are pleased with how they look.

The drops are shaken into a cup and mixed with water to make a smoothy drink.

They were manufactured in Hawke's Bay by a "factory partner" and are being stored at Wanganui Coolstores.

Bigger 1.2kg packs are already available to Auckland and Waikato restaurants and cafes, and sold by Moore Wilson in Wellington.

The product comes in three flavours and includes local ingredients such as puha grown at Ngā Rauru's Kii Tahi Nursery in Pātea, and kawakawa harvested from forest. The iwi has done small scale trials of cropping kumara and kawakawa.

Kaitahi has received funding help from Te Puni Kokiri and Venture Taranaki, and $98,000 from the Provincial Growth Fund.

"That money allowed us to undertake a deeper dive into a business case for bringing some of that production closer to home. We are looking at options in both Waverley and Whanganui," Matoe said.

Currently ingredients for the drops are sourced across 580km. She'd like to bring them closer to home. And there are decisions to be made about what scale to aim for - and two pathways to choose between.

"Either way it will mean we are bringing more jobs to the local community."

At the moment Kaitahi has a casual workforce of about six people. Some have training and Level 3 and 4 qualifications.

When Matoe knows how fast the product sells with Countdown, she'll plan when to start making the next nine tonnes of product.

Making similar products could be a spin-off - a powdered smoothy mix that's easier to transport and export is one possibility. A coconut-based icecream is another.

Matoe's connection to Ngā Rauru is through her grandmother and Pākaraka Pā. She has a Master's in Business Administration, formerly led Auckland's Toi Tangata Māori health agency and has always intended to return here.