Nuka: A tikanga Māori business

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.

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 Auckland Inventors’ Fund and their respective faculties. To further refine their ideas, they consulted with the experts on a Return On Science investment committee.

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 CIRCUIT, the Circular Innovations Research Centre.

“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.”