4 minute read
NZ Squash milk making a splash in Japan
NZ SQUASH MILK
MAKING A SPLASH IN JAPAN
Words by Rose Mannering
Shane Newman is a second-generation Hawke’s Bay squash grower who runs his business NH Packing Ltd from Whakatu
Shane Newman had a bright idea. After reading an article on the development of avocado milk, the Hawke’s Bay squash grower and packer thought ‘why not try squash milk?’
He contacted the developers of an award-winning avocado milk, Auckland power couple Sachie Nomura and her husband Nick Siu, to see if they would collaborate on a new product. The idea Shane posed to Sachie and Nick was a perfect fit: developing a product to capture the New Zealand growing story and adding value to product that was not destined for export. Health attributes of the milk would have wide consumer appeal. They partnered with the Ministry for Primary Industries who assisted with $95,000 in funding through its Sustainable Food and Fibres Fund for development of the innovative new product. “Between the three of us, we have come together to form this fantastic model to bring this product to life,” Shane says. A year later, Kabocha Milk was born. Comprising 95% buttercup squash, the milk is vegan, free from artificial colours and flavours and has a subtle flavour profile of fresh squash. It’s also sustainable, says Shane. ”Our Kabocha Milk uses the unexported [sic] tag-3 fruit, creating a high-value, sustainable and exportable product from produce that would otherwise go to waste.” The brand name, Kabocha Milk – Kabocha being the Japanese name for buttercup squash – was later developed by a fourth business partner and co-founder, Terry Daly, who is now in charge of brand design and marketing. After some thorough market testing, today, Kabocha Milk is available in two high-end retail chains in Japan, as well as markets in Korea and Hong Kong.
Development of the new product and brand has piggybacked on fresh squash export channels used by Three Good Men fresh squash exporters, of which Shane is a member.
“We have used our relationships with key retailers to engage them in this new product. It made sense to combine marketing for the story of our fresh squash and squash milk,” Shane says. It also made sense to promote fresh New Zealand buttercup squash and fresh New Zealand kabocha milk together, rather than using traditional beverage channels. After just one production run, Kabocha Milk has been very successful. “It is a different product,” says Shane. “We have supplied a range of recipes to support its use.” Kabocha Milk speaks to today’s food demands, supplying the high-end health market, the product is 100% vegan, non-dairy and high in Vitamin A and even has a shelf life of 15 months.
Ironically, Shane’s quest to produce squash milk led him just over the fence of his Whakatu base, to a business called Milk Kitchen. Milk Kitchen also processed Sachie and Nick’s avocado milk and were able to process the raw squash material into kabocha milk. In just two and a half years, Kabocha Milk has been transformed from a random thought into a production formula.
Shane credits the knowledge he has gained from Sachie and Nick for the smooth and rapid development of the product. “Without this input we would not be anywhere near where we are at in this short space of time.” Although still in its infancy, Kabocha Milk is unique, the first of its kind, and ticks all the sustainability boxes with a great New Zealand brand story to be told. But there is still plenty to do. “We have bigger plans going forward to develop further markets,” Shane says.
Kabocha Milk is free from artificial colours and flavours and made of 95 percent buttercup squash, grown right here in New Zealand
Initially developed for Asian markets, Shane is looking to expand Kabocha Milk to the United States, following on from its cousin, Avocadomilk, as well as markets in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Shane is planning for Kabocha Milk to follow the same path and trajectory as avocado milk with the advantage of Kabocha Milk avoiding possible pitfalls. Nick is raising capital for the project and for establishment of an in-market team too.
Everything has been done on a shoestring budget up to this point, but Shane says now the gearing will be changing as the business scales up. “There are fantastic opportunities open to us with new markets, bigger bottles, variations in flavour profiles,” he says.
