This column was going to be about a very cool business making delicious summer treats but, as you would expect, the wonderful Christmas and New Year’s holiday season weather means they have been too busy selling their products to spend an hour or so with me.
While I was pondering what to write about this week I reflected on what it takes to create and maintain a great food or beverage business because, for many, the New Year is the incentive to start something new.
It doesn’t matter what industry you are thinking of getting into I think there are a few key things to creating a successful business, having the ability to deliver high quality products with exceptional service every day not just occasionally, is vital.
Seeing an opportunity and a dash of innovation are also important, be it a new product or refreshing existing offerings, consumers are always looking for new and interesting things to try. When I look back over the last couple of years I can point directly to these qualities when I think about the many outstanding producers we have in this region.
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Successful business owners are always looking for ways to keep their offerings fresh so you and I want to keep going back and paying for their service or product. Of course, people will start new food businesses making products already available, for example a new burger outlet. But if you want to compete in this market then your burger needs to be damned fine, innovative and tasty.
If it isn’t you will just end up with another burger outlet people visit a couple of times and then move on to the next new thing.
When it comes to innovation it doesn’t need to be a totally new product, it could simply be seeing an opportunity to do something better, more efficiently and just a little smarter. One such business is the Richmond-based drinks business Mad Melon.
Owner Jamin Brown loves watermelon and wanted a watermelon drink. He couldn’t find one so started making his own, then along came an opportunity to expand. Nelson apple growers had their crops damaged by hail on Boxing Day 2020, Cedenco had closed their juicing plant in Nelson and Jamin realised he could use his existing, much more modern plant, to process damaged apples into juice.
He bought a huge volume of damaged fruit and set about turning it into juice that he sells under his Country Fresh brand.
This is a great example of the owner of a small business seeing an opportunity and taking advantage of it – quickly. Being small he was able to adapt and make decisions literally on the same day he saw the opportunity. Many large businesses would take weeks or even months to make decisions he made quickly.
Top-flight restaurants never stop innovating. It goes without saying that people want to see favourite dishes on menus but they also want to have beautiful food made using the freshest ingredients available and that’s where Hopgood’s & Co Restaurant and Bar leads the pack in this region.
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Hopgoods head chef Aaron Ballantyne, left, and owner Kevin Hopgood have a daily menu to keep things fresh.
Owner Kevin Hopgood and head chef Aaron Ballantyne develop a daily menu based on what they can source fresh that day.
Aaron told me that even dishes that are firm favourites with diners will have a small change most days. It may be as simple as serving their beef fillet dish with different vegetables or a starch prepared differently. The heart of the dish stays the same but the focus on using the freshest produce they can get their hands on keeps their menu fresh too.
The fish dish will also change daily depending on what fish they can get fresh that day. It’s all about maintaining integrity in the quality of ingredients and in service.
Hopgood’s have been in business since 2005 and while they have maintained excellent standards in all aspects of their business they have also set the standard for others to reach for. If a restaurant in Nelson wants to be successful they often look to Hopgood’s for the standards they need to meet.
The standards they set and the use of local produce has attracted other top chefs to the region with people like Matt Bouterey and Rikki Day from Hawker House, James Rutherford from Hardy St Eatery, Alistair Forster from Forsters at Moutere Hills winery, to name just a few, who are making the most of the wonderful produce grown and harvested in the region.
It doesn’t matter whether your food business is a small café, large family-style restaurant serving large portions or an ethnic restaurant it is the commitment to using the very best ingredients and being prepared to make regular changes to your menu that will determine your success or failure. If you are great at what you do then customers will wear a path to your door.
Martin De Ruyter/Stuff
Flavia Spena and Flavio Donati at ViaVio Cheese in Nelson.
The same philosophy can be applied to producers too, if you want to make cheese for example, you will need to make beautiful artisan cheeses using the best milk you can get your hands on. In this region producers like Little River and ViaVio use Oaklands A2 milk that’s produced locally meaning they get their milk direct from the producer within hours of the cows being milked. Fresh is always best.
The Nelson Tasman region has some incredibly innovative people making world-class food and beverages, the climate in the region means a huge number of fruits and vegetables can be grown here for producers to turn into outstanding products for you and me to enjoy.
If your new year resolution includes starting a new business make sure you take some time to learn from others, understand the level of skill you have and work to your strengths, make sure you have enough funding and are prepared to work long hours while having an eye for new opportunities. But above all if you do start a new business make sure you plan to focus consistently on quality, and that means quality service too.
Do this and your new year dream just might come true in 2023.
