ӰAPP

Nuka: A tikanga Māori business

Initiative type:
Start-up
Sector:
Agriculture & Food; Cleantech; Social Enterprise
UniServices Contact:

Opportunity

Ruatoria, a small Ngāti Porou town nearly two hours north of Gisborne, is abundant in forest resources, particularly kānuka. Jobs, however, are scarce.

Two Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of ӰAPPresearchers are working to use the historically undervalued tree sustainably and bring benefits to the community.

Kiri Dell, a senior lecturer in business who is from Ruatoria, and Saeid Baroutian, an associate professor of chemical and materials engineering, are setting up a research-based business with a unique tikanga Māori model.

“Māori landowners have typically been the last ones to be valued in the supply chain,” says Dell. “We wanted to come up with a model that would return value to landowners and also reward entrepreneurs.”

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A business based on time, relationships and kōrero

Early in the project, Dell brought a group of Māori landowners to the University, showed them around and held extensive hui. Later, a group of University and UniServices staff went to Ruatoria, where they stayed at the local marae and met with community members.

“Building engagement was a step-by-step process,” says Baroutian. “We needed that time to understand each other, especially for me to learn the culture and to build relationships.”

Baroutian led the science, conducting laboratory characterisation to understand the health benefits and unique properties of kānuka as well as listening to locals to understand the mātauranga Māori involved.

As a result, they developed two healthy, sustainable food products:

  • Liquid smoke made from burning kānuka wood chips in the absence of oxygen, which unlike most smoke products makes it free of toxic and carcinogenic compounds
  • ‘Kānuka juice’, envisioned as an ingredient in the nutraceutical industry, extracted from leaves using subcritical water, which is super-hot water kept under pressure and that unlike most solvents doesn’t contain any toxic compounds.
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Kiri Dell
“Māori landowners have typically been the last ones to be valued in the supply chain. We wanted to come up with a model that would return value to landowners and also reward entrepreneurs.”
Kiri Dell,
Senior Lectuer, Business School; Nuka Co-Founder

The partners are also exploring the possibility of either selling the biochar left over from the liquid smoke production process as a soil amendment or returning it to the land.

With advice from UniServices, Dell and Baroutian created an organisational structure composed of a charitable trust, a company holding the intellectual property, and Māori land entities. This unique three-way structure allows Nuka to access grants that would otherwise be unavailable to for-profit companies and rewards those who have put in their hard work and investment.

Dell and Baroutian received seed funding from the University of ӰAPPInventors’ Fund and their respective faculties. To further refine their ideas, they consulted with the experts on a investment committee.

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Giving back to the community

The business will eventually employ about 15 people, which is significant in a community of less than 800.

“The community will gain employment; an enhanced relationship with the ngahere (forest); exposure to and engagement with the science and innovation system; and capability development around entrepreneurship and innovation,” says Dell.

To further research into implementing circular economy solutions, Baroutian, Dell and other colleagues have started .

“We’re not driven by money. Our aim is to deliver impact,” says Baroutian. “I’m involved in multiple projects, but to me, this one is special because of the relationships – it’s like working with friends and family.”

“We’re not driven by money. Our aim is to deliver impact. I’m involved in multiple projects, but to me, this one is special because of the relationships – it’s like working with friends and family.”
Saeid Baroutian, Associate Professor; Nuka Co-Founder
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