MEET YOUR {OUTSTANDING} MAKER - THE HEMP BUTTER CO.
Business partners Leigh and Hasanthi, founders of The Hemp Butter Co, have recently found success at the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards, receiving a Silver Medal for their Vanilla Hazel Hemp Butter. While the duo have revelled in this success and are enjoying their hemp butter skyrocketing in popularity, their journey getting started was no small feat.
Leigh Franklin & Hasanthi Perera met at work. Both keen foodies, they forged a friendship, soon realising they wanted to start a business together. Leigh had been struggling to find healthy, nutritious food that was suitable for her young vegetarian son and Hasanthi was on her own journey to find healthy food that was also tasty. They identified a gap in the market for allergen-friendly healthy and tasty alternatives to everyday foods. Around this time, hemp became legal for human consumption in New Zealand and with these factors colliding, the duo decided to put their ideas into action and began making trial batches of hemp butter.
The pair have faced lots of complex challenges on their journey, particularly when it came to working with hemp seeds. “The seed itself is a challenge - we have to handle it with care and make sure all the nutrients are protected,” says Leigh. “It’s a challenging flavour to work with and we have worked hard to create commercial flavours that are appealing to the whole family,” she adds.
After plenty of practice experimenting with seeds the pair encountered a stroke of luck when it came to expanding their production. “I was on holiday and my son started talking to a guy in a café,” explains Leigh. “It turns out it was Pic Picot, the owner of Pic’s Peanut Butter!”
After exchanging contact details, Hasanthi and Leigh flew to Nelson to see what Pic thought of their product. They followed up their trip six months later for their first trial in a commercial environment at Pic’s Food Factory in Nelson. “The amount of exposure we got thanks to The Food Factory was amazing. All the talent from Pic’s team who worked alongside us really helped to broaden our knowledge and we came away with a lot of ideas,” says Hasanthi, reflecting on the experience. “It was a serendipitous meeting,” says Leigh. “Since then, Pic has become our mentor and friend as we’ve moved onto our careers as butter makers.”
Returning home to Auckland, Hasanthi and Leigh took onboard the experience and lessons they learned from Pic and committed more time to research before undertaking another run of trials. Soon enough, their business vision came to fruition, and The Hemp Butter Co began to take off.
Hasanthi says the biggest challenge was navigating all the unexpected hurdles that popped up along the way. “It was a new learning curve - there was so much we didn’t know because we were brand new to the industry. Because hemp was only recently legalised the pair encountered more roadblocks than usual. There were many hoops to jump through to create a commercial product that could hit the shelves.
A lack of knowledge about hemp seeds was another hurdle. “People were still learning about hemp seeds and their incredible health benefits. What we really hope is that through The Hemp Butter Co we can expose more people to this amazing seed and they’ll understand how easy it can be to receive your daily nutritional boost through a simple delicious spread,” says Leigh. Just one tablespoon of Original Hemp Butter provides seven grams of protein with a high contribution towards your daily dose of Omega 3.
Sustainability and balancing work with family underline business for the duo. “Sustainability is very important to us and hemp seeds are incredibly good for the environment,” says Leigh. As well as environmentally friendly production, they work with local suppliers and most importantly use Kiwi-grown hemp seeds. The pair donate leftover jars to local preschools, salt for sandpits and leftover ingredients to two animal sanctuaries.
“We’ve both got young families and they come first,” says Leigh. Hasanthi says that “love and trust” are central to the business. “We’re making sure that what we produce, is the best it can be - there’s nothing hidden about our products. That’s why all our products are made using premium natural ingredients”.
The Hemp Butter Co. quality spreads are available from selected Fresh Choice and New World stores, as well as Moore Wilson’s and a variety of independent stores. For a complete list of stockists, to learn more or to buy directly from the company visit their website here.