Down to Earth

Scott Jimmieson has realised his dream of becoming a farmer, and he’s keeping it local with his new online shop business, Local Food NZ, connecting farms with consumers.

The online farm shop and home delivery service in the Manawatu and Wellington regions offers free-range eggs from Scott’s farm and honey and coffee from other local producers.

The Local Food NZ business started in 2019 and their direct-to-consumer model was amplified by the Covid lockdowns. They also wholesale a number of eggs to cafes and restaurants.

Scott always knew he wanted to be a farmer, going to work in the dairy industry straight out of high school before travelling overseas and coming back to New Zealand to start his egg farm.
Living the dream in London and walking into the Tescos stores, he noticed all the free-range eggs. Doing some research, he discovered about 45% of the market was free-range while in New Zealand, it was only about 14%. He thought it could only go one way here.

Website: www.localfood.nz
Facebook: Local Food NZ
Instagram: Local Food New Zealand (@localfoodnz)

Standing on the sideline watching her daughter play rugby in winter, Charlotte Bell thought she’d love to have a warm wool coat to wear. When she searched, she couldn’t find what she was after, so she decided to create her own.

Charlotte and her husband Hamish and their two girls Alexis (8) and Zoe (6) live on their sheep and beef farm at Cattle Creek in the Hakataramea Valley, South Canterbury.

Using Romney ewe lamb’s wool sourced from their farm, Charlotte started The Clip in 2019, creating stylish, functional and warm wool coats that will stand the test of time.

“The Clip was born from a cold winter’s day, wool prices obviously have been terrible for a long time, and we started brainstorming what we could do with it to try to increase revenue from the wool side of the business,” she says.


Learn more about The Clip NZ at:

Facebook @theclipnz
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theclipnz/
Website: https://theclip.co.nz/ - 100% natural, luxurious, New Zealand made Wool Coats

Tapping into the potential of native New Zealand honeys, lifelong mates Edward Eaton and Wilbur Morrison are creating a buzz with their Buzz Club mead.
The 24-year-olds went from experimenting with different flavour profiles, brewing in their garage on the weekends, to launching a range of premium sparkling mead naturally brewed from native New Zealand honey.

https://thebuzzclub.co.nz/

https://www.instagram.com/buzzclubmead/

The Brothers Green is harnessing the potential of hemp with a range of value-added products, and they believe the crop could have the potential to tackle some of the environmental and agricultural issues faced by farmers in this carbon era.

Started five years ago, The Brothers Green is a vertically integrated hemp business that makes a variety of hemp products, including a functional food and a skincare range. A supplements line is soon to be launched.

They contract grow hemp in North Canterbury, with a drying and processing facility in the region too. The raw seed is turned into three ingredients, protein powder, oil and whole seed. The raw ingredients are then used in a range of retail and wholesale products.

Founder Brad Lake is one of a trio who make up the Brothers, and he left the comfort of his 9-5 banking job to take the plunge into the world of hemp.

Website: thebrothersgreen.co
Instagram: thebrothersgreen_
Facebook: The Brothers Green

All products available on the website.

Best product: Hemp seed oil for joints and arthritis. Anyone suffering from joint issues should try this.

The Mangamarie Sunflower Field, established by farmer, photographer and mum, turned sunflower entrepreneur extraordinaire, Abbe Hoare, is turning heads for all the right reasons.

She and her partner Emile de Greeuw, and their two girls Florence, 8, and Maeve, 2, have a 90-hectare farm at Mangamaire, just south of Pahiatua. Their ultimate dream is to one day buy a bigger farm that will sustain their family, but for now, they’re constantly looking for ways to diversify their operation to make this happen.

Abbe's social handles and websites:

https://www.sunflowerfield.co.nz/

www.instagram.com/mangamaire.sunflower.field

www.photosforjean.co.nz

www.instagram.com/photos_for_jean

www.facebook.com/omatafencing/

In the second episode of From the Ground Up, host Rebecca Greaves talks with Amanda King founder of By The Horns.

They say you should never work with children or animals, but By the Horns photographer Amanda King has carved out a niche for herself doing exactly that.

The primary school teacher turned photographer has amassed a huge following on social media with her hallmark close-up images of magnificent bulls, as well as other farm animals she’s met on her travels.

Facebook: @ByTheHornsPrints
Instagram: by.the.horns
Website: www.bythehorns.co.nz

Rebecca catches up with Delwyn Tuanui from The Chatham Island Food Co and learns about how he chased his dreams from the ground up.

Running around Melbourne in his early 20s with a chilly bin full of Chatham Island blue cod, knocking on the doors of the city’s top chefs, Delwyn Tuanui knew he had a special product.

Social media handles and and website links to check out Chatham Island Food Co for yourself:

- Instagram handle @chathamisfoodco
- Facebook account @ChathamIslandFoodCo

Website: Chatham Island Food Co | Ocean to your Door – Chatham Island Food Company www.chathamislandfood.com

#fromthegroundup #agriinnovators #primaryindustries #nzfarming #nzfishing #youngcountry #ruralchat #agchatnz

Welcome to From the Ground Up, a podcast brought to you by Young Country. This is a podcast for the go getters, the big dreamers, the innovators of the primary sector. I’m your host Rebecca Greaves, and we’re taking a closer look at people in the primary industries who have dared to think big, push the limits and give it a go in business. We’ll be asking them what the catalyst was to take the plunge and make a change. We find out how they got to where they are now, what they’ve learned along the way, and what their advice is to other aspiring agri-innovators. So, settle in and listen up as we serve you a healthy dose of inspiration, motivation, and maybe even challenge your thinking a little.