Waikato Business News March/April 2021

Hunt and Gather honey
There is a really
good support
network in Raglan
and we aren’t afraid
to give things a go
even if we don’t
really know what’s
going to come out
of it. People like to
see other people
having a go at
something and they
like to support it.
Hannah O’Brien with Amanda Graham at Hunt and Gather
Raglan food producers
show the way forward
Call it brand Raglan, the name with selling power.
That doesn’t come from
nothing; it has taken a
healthy dollop of collaboration
that existed long
before everyone was urged to
support local in the Covid-19
lockdown recovery.
And Raglan food producers
are flourishing, thanks in
no small part to that cooperative
approach.
Among them, Raglan Food
Co has launched a dairy-free
kefir drink and has a fresh
product in the pipeline for a
mid-year launch, while Hunt
and Gather Bee Co reports
increasing honey sales and is
eyeing fresh export markets.
Now the Raglan food story
is being brought to the business
world in a new venture.
The creation of Raglan
woman Amanda Graham,
Meet the Makers showcases
some of the best of Raglan to
out of towners from Hamilton
and further afield.
Graham started it in April
last year because of a need she
could see from corporates or
conference groups wanting to
do something different out of
Hamilton.
She put together a taste
tour, typically including
Raglan Food Co, along with
Soul Food Farms, Dream
View Creamery and Hunt and
Gather.
Graham has been spoiled
for choice in a town where
every product seems to have
its own artisan producer. Also
included in a mini walking
tour of Raglan are the artisan
bakery, the Herbal Dispensary,
chocolate cafe La La
Land, Raglan Roast coffee and
Workshop Brewing Company.
Raglan is a fascinating
place with some great people
with stories to tell, she says.
“We've got Jess at Dreamview
Creamery, all of 24
years old, who's set up on
her parents’ farm the Dreamview
Creamery milk bottling
product. And [there are]
people who have developed
from working in their garage
to working in a container
to building a factory.”
Graham has many years’
experience as a conference
organiser, with most recently
a five-year stint as a business
events manager with Hamilton
& Waikato Tourism. “Part
of that role has been showcasing
the region to groups who
are interested in holding their
conferences here. So that's
very much my specialist subject,
the conference and corporate
markets, but coupled
with my love of food and fashion,
and art, [this] just seemed
like an opportunity for me to
develop my passion.”
She is looking to put on
a couple of regular monthly
tours, as well as bespoke
events, and business is good
for Graham, who has had to
focus on the domestic market
after the Covid-driven collapse
of international visitors.
If anything, she says,
the conference and corporate
market is stronger at
the moment because of the
wellbeing component.
Kefir -
Natural and Green Apple
“I think there's lots of
potential for corporates
ex-Hamilton and ex-Auckland
to come out and have team
days where we can create
something special for them as
well as obviously the conference
groups who are here for
their conferences.”
Meanwhile, Raglan Food
Co is following the launch
early this year of its coconut-based
kefir drink, made
possible by its shift last year
into a purpose-built factory at
Nau Mai Business Park, with
a likely mid-year launch of a
condiment.
The business, formerly
Raglan Coconut Yoghurt,
famously got its start in 2014
after Randall started promoting
surplus jars of the product
on a local Facebook noticeboard,
and has been supported
by locals ever since.
“Without the Raglan community
we wouldn't have a
business,” she says. “It has
literally fallen out of community,
and then everyone was so
supportive the whole way.”
Randall says Raglan Food
Co supports newer businesses
in turn, including giving
advice to Workshop Brewery
when they were looking to
expand.
“What goes around, comes
around,” Randall says. “It’s a
very collaborative, friendly
place.”
Similarly, Hunt and Gather’s
Hannah O’Brien says they
are seeing continuing solid
growth and have big plans for
2021.
She says the family business
is looking to catch the
kānuka honey wave, which
she describes as an interesting
up-and-comer that has
become their biggest seller in
the domestic market.
Last year they began stocking
their honeys through the
Farro Fresh chain in Auckland,
and have also begun
supplying New Worlds.
O’Brien says, with 45-50
stockists, they are looking at
export markets among other
plans for 2021. It didn’t hurt
that they featured on Country
Calendar last year.
“We had a nice spike in
sales and that's generated a
lot of new customers for us,
which has been really cool.”
O’Brien thinks Raglan has
become a brand of its own. “I
think it really follows largely
in the footsteps of Raglan
Roast. I think a lot of people
saw the success that they had,
and they really played on the
Raglan thing. So it's quite a
nice thing to associate with
your business, it's got quite a
good reputation.
Like Randall, O’Brien has
embraced the collaborative
approach, helping found the
Producers Collective as part
of Waikato Food Inc, and is
also very much part of the
Raglan community.
“There is a really good
support network in Raglan
and we aren't afraid to give
things a go even if we don't
really know what's going to
come out of it. People like to
see other people having a go
at something and they like to
support it.”
Work begins on Cobham Drive overbridge
Columns for a Cobham
Drive overbridge are
being constructed
and earthworks continue as
Hamilton’s first full diamond
interchange heads for its final
building phase.
The intersection with Wairere
Drive will see the completion
of Hamilton’s Ring Road,
while also opening up access
to Peacocke and potentially the
Southern Links.
The overbridge will see
Cobham Drive raised six
metres with a total length of
about 36 metres, allowing
Wairere Drive traffic to pass
under it.
The on and off ramps,
already constructed, are currently
being used by motorists
to keep traffic flowing during
the final phases of the $59 million
project, which is about
75 percent funded by Waka
Kotahi, NZTA.
There will be lights-controlled
intersections either side
of Cobham Drive for on and
off ramps.
Hamilton City Council capital
projects manager Chris
Barton is pleased with progress.
“We haven't really had
any major issues or concerns
in terms of the travelling public.
“Part of the construction
planning around this final
section is we really wanted to
build the off road sections first,
so that would keep the traffic
moving through it.”
The final section of the
Ring Road, from Cambridge
Road to Cobham Drive will be
completed by contractors Fulton
Hogan in time for a likely
May opening next year.
Cobham Drive is part of
SH1 and one of Hamilton’s
busiest routes, with the overbridge
set to take 35,525 vehicles
daily in 2022, rising to
38,105 in 2041. Meanwhile,
the Wairere Drive part of the
interchange is projected to
take 15,200 daily in 2022 and
23,000 in 2041.
Early work is underway for the Cobham Drive
overbridge, shown in this photo looking north.