Ngā Rauru's superfood company has win with frozen smoothie drops

(From left) Carrick Robinson presents the Innovation Award to the Kaitahi team Leonie Matoe, Ora Hohaia, Huirua Sullivan and Mike Pritchard. Photo / supplied

Refreshingly different, nutritious, delicious and highly convenient - the new superfood marketed by a Ngā Rauru company has won the top prize in a national competition.

The food is Kaitahi Frozen Superfood Smoothy Drops and they won the James & Wells Champion of Innovation Award at the Fine Food New Zealand Innovation Awards in Auckland on June 24.

The smoothie drops were also shortlisted for the retail section of the award. In the innovation stakes they beat off a burger bun made of ground crickets and psyllium powder and a nut and chocolate biscotti stick.

Allie Hemara-Wahanui tried a berry smoothie at the Kaitahi launch in Whanganui, watched by Leonie Matoe (left) and Ora Hohaia. Photo / file

The drops were launched during the Iwi Chairs' Forum meeting in Whanganui on May 3. They were also showcased at a Wellington food show in May, and attracted interest from grocer Moore Wilson's.

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By September they will be sold in stores in 1.2kg packets, Kaitahi business development manager Leonie Matoe said. Adding 200ml of water to a cup of them, then shaking, makes a smoothie. There is no shopping, chopping or noisy, messy blending required.

The drops come in three flavours, and include traditional Māori ingredients like pūha, kūmara and kawakawa. The award's five judges said they were "a breakthrough product" and an advance on the frozen smoothie brands on the market.

The Kaitahi Native Superfoods Company is a subsidiary of the Te Kaahui o Rauru Trust. The experimental cooking that went into the smoothie drops happened in Annette Main's commercial kitchen in Whanganui.

In time production could happen in some of the iwi's "underutilised" marae kitchens. In the interim it will be done by a manufacturing partner in Hawke's Bay, with pūha and kawakawa sent from here.

New products will include mānuka honey from 208 beehives in the Whenuakura Valley and smoked fish produced in partnership with Bay of Plenty business The Bay Smokehouse. The iwi trust could also invest in cold storage.

The Kaitahi team has lots more ideas, using either new ingredients or those in the smoothie drops. Future products could be freeze dried or powdered.

The products will have an official launch and go to market in September.