皇家华人

When, as a child, spent time on her ancestral whenua (land) in Ruatoria, a small Ng膩ti Porou town in the Gisborne Region, k膩nuka was everywhere. A hardy, scrubby tree, it was mostly used for firewood, so while it didn鈥檛 have much monetary value, Dell associated it with warmth, cooking and food.

Now Dell, a senior lecturer in management and international business at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, and , an associate professor of chemical and materials engineering at the same university, are working to transform k膩nuka from Ruatoria into high-value products and tangible benefits to the community.

Their enterprise is breaking ground as both a tikanga M膩ori business and one based on university research and technological innovation. To achieve its objectives, it鈥檚 unique in its very structure.

鈥淢膩ori landowners have typically been the last ones to be valued in the supply chain,鈥� says Dell, who is also the director of the University鈥檚 Postgraduate Diploma in Business 鈥� M膩ori Development. 鈥淲e wanted to come up with a model that would return value to landowners and also reward entrepreneurs.鈥�

The solution, arrived at through lots of k艒rero with the community and some legal advice from 皇家华人, the University鈥檚 research application and commercialisation company, was to create an organisational structure composed of a charitable trust, a company holding the intellectual property, and M膩ori land entities.

Nuka Charitable Trust, a name that shortens k膩nuka, is a not-for-profit trust with the overarching mandate to deliver benefits to the community. It will maintain control over the brand, marketing and story, while local land entities will maintain control over the whenua in Ruatoria.

 Although Nuka is still in the relatively early stages of starting up, the seeds of the project were sown back in 2015, when Dell was doing her PhD. That鈥檚 when she and Baroutian met at a research ideas event at the University.

鈥淜iri told me about all these underutilised resources in the M膩ori lands of the East Cape and we started talking about developing solutions to better utilise them,鈥� says Baroutian, who is today a director of , the Circular Innovations Research Centre (CIRCUIT), and the  postgraduate programme.

The pair secured seed funding from the 皇家华人-run University of Auckland Inventors鈥� Fund, as well as from their respective faculties, and started developing and fine-tuning ideas. Presenting to the expert advisors on a  investment committee also helped.

The research and development process was intertwined with the relationship-building process. Dell and Baroutian visited Dell鈥檚 ancestral lands and met with her wh膩nau and other community members.

While Baroutian led the science and technology, Dell built bridges between the community and the University. Early in the project, she brought a group of M膩ori landowners to the University, showed them around and held extensive hui. Later, a group of University and 皇家华人 staff went to Ruatoria, where they stayed at the local marae and met with community members.

鈥淏uilding engagement was a step-by-step process,鈥� says Baroutian. 鈥淲e needed that time to understand each other, especially for me to learn the culture and to build relationships with Kiri and her wh膩nau.鈥�

Another important principle for Dell and Baroutian was to build a sustainable business that would not only tread lightly on the whenua but give back to the ngahere (forest).

鈥淲e started by understanding the resources and the m膩tauranga M膩ori involved in the application of these resources,鈥� says Baroutian. 鈥淭hen there was laboratory characterisation 鈥� understanding the health benefits and unique properties 鈥� and developing a process. Actually, two processes, because we developed two healthy, sustainable products based on two technologies.鈥�

One of the products is liquid smoke, which can be added to foods ranging from cheese to mussels.

鈥淚t has a unique, pleasant aroma and flavour,鈥� says Baroutian. 鈥淚t can also protect food products against degradation and enhance shelf life.鈥�

Traditional smoking involves burning wood in the presence of oxygen, which creates toxic and carcinogenic compounds, notably polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Nuka鈥檚 process involves burning k膩nuka wood chips at high temperatures, in the absence of oxygen, which prevents the formation of these toxic compounds. The smoke is converted into a liquid product with an aroma that reminds Dell of h膩ng墨.

The company will give back to the community as well as the whenua. 

鈥淭he community will gain employment; an enhanced relationship with the ngahere; exposure to and engagement with the science and innovation system; and capability development around entrepreneurship and innovation,鈥� says Dell.

The business will eventually employ about 15 people, which is significant in a community of less than 800 where much of the working-age population leaves town, says Dell, who has moved to Ruatoria for reasons including being closer to her wh膩nau and advancing the business as well as her research. 

鈥淚 can see families struggling here, so it鈥檚 in my own interest to make my community better.鈥� 

鈥淲e鈥檙e not driven by money. Our aim is to deliver impact,鈥� says Baroutian. 鈥淚鈥檓 involved in multiple projects, but to me, this one is special because of the relationships 鈥� it鈥檚 like working with friends and family.鈥�

What鈥檚 the advice the pair would give to others thinking of embarking on ventures involving collaboration between M膩ori and non-M膩ori communities?