Gisborne entrepreneur Vanessa Hayes sees her success as the success of everyone who has joined her in her work to grow the New Zealand macadamia industry.
Hayes (Ngāi Tai, Whakatōhea,Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) – the founder and chief executive of Torere Macadamias Limited (TML) – won the Entrepreneurial Māori Business Leader Award at the 2024 Aotearoa Māori Business Leaders Awards for her efforts developing a Māori macadamia collective, which supports other Māori growers in the industry.
The award recognises an entrepreneurial and innovative Māori person building a business that upholds Māori values.
TML is based in two locations. It has an orchard and nursery in Torere in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and a head office and processing operation in Gisborne.
Hayes said at first she was reluctant to accept the award as she was not comfortable being in the limelight and preferred to work behind the scenes.
She eventually realised it was also a great accolade for everyone who has been part of this journey such as Plant & Food Research, Riddet Institute (Massey), the Māori macadamia collective and other growers around the country.
Wāhine Māori claimed five of the six prestigious awards at the Māori Business Leaders Awards held at the University of Auckland’s business school last week – recognition of their role as key drivers of success in the Māori economy (valued at $70 billion).
“It was a special night and wonderful to have so many people there who have contributed to Torere’s success.”
Earlier this year, Hayes was recognised with a Special Commendation in the OrganicNZ Farmer of the Year category at the OrganicNZ Awards 2024.
“Both awards were a surprise but also came during what has been a pretty hard year,” she said.
TML’s 50,000-plant nursery was decimated in 2023 by weather events, delaying plant deliveries by 12 to 18 months.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment helped with a recovery loan to build a new climate-controlled nursery, which will be fully operational from November.
Hayes also had to support growers around the North Island affected by the weather events.
Torere Macadamias Ltd leads the New Zealand macadamia industry’s 10-year growth strategy to grow over 1000 hectares of organic macadamias with superior varieties.
Hayes has researched these for more than 40 years and TML has the IP and sole rights.
Her passion is to have Māori involved at all levels in an industry which has traditionally been non-Māori and reliant on imported macadamia.
TML supplies the macadamia trees exclusively from its nursery and provides growers workshops, training programmes and support for all growers, including three Māori regional grower collectives with 50ha in the early stages of planting.
“We now have several macadamia farms across Waihau Bay, Ruatōria, and the Matātua region,” Hayes said. “These farms are growing together – sharing knowledge and resources.”
She stressed the importance of investing in regions where Māori could make better use of their lands, aiming to uplift communities through sustainable and collaborative business practices.
TML’s macadamia kernels are significantly higher in vital nutrients than imported varieties as evidenced by Plant & Food Research, with approval for exclusive use of its own New Zealand Nutrition food label.
Hayes also engaged the Massey University-based Riddet Institute (national centre for fundamental and strategic scientific research in food) to research the properties of macadamia husk shells and leaves for use in high-value products.
The results of year one of the three-year project exceeded expectations.
TML won a contract to supply Air New Zealand’s long haul and business class flights from 2024 onwards and Hayes has been working hard to make this happen.
She contracted a roaster in Ōpōtiki to produce the nuts and it took a lot of trial and error to get the product right.
People will know Hayes from the Torere stall at Gisborne Farmers’ Market, where the nuts are roasted on site and sold while still hot.
She will soon add the popular Whakatāne market to her weekly roster and plans to be there on Sunday mornings.