The Kutai Guy
Have you ever dreamt of paradise? A place where the road winds north, endless sands cover endless beaches, and native bush kisses the sea? In this less-frequented corner of Aotearoa, an unassuming champion of Kiwi Kaimoana is turning our iconic green-lipped mussels into an award-winning delicacy. Meet Zarn Reichardt, better known to mussel-loving Kiwis as ‘The Kutai Guy.’
Zarn's venture, founded in 2022 as an extension of Reichardt Marine, operates from quiet Houhoro. Yet, in just two short years, it has made an indelible mark. At their first attempt, Zarn and his team clinched gold at the 2024 Outstanding Food Producer Awards.
"We did mussel spat for a living — selling baby mussels to farmers around NZ," Zarn explains. "In the off-season, I bought a food trailer. I used to smoke mussels for a friend and thought, 'What if I can do these and sell them?'"
That simple ‘what if’ led to local sensation. Other residents in paradise loved his smoked mussels, and business boomed. Zarn soon entered the wholesale trade, and after 18 short months, he sold the food truck.
"We source live mussels — that’s our point of difference,” Zarn emphasises. "We collect the baby spat and sell them to farmers, who grow them out in 12-18 months. We pick them up from Coromandel or have them trucked up from the Marlborough Sounds… then we shell, process, smoke, package, and ship them around the country."
This oversight — from spat to smoke, from sea to table — sets The Kutai Guy apart. It's a cornerstone of their success and is why their smoked mussels delight customers and judges alike.
But vertical integration for a fledgling family business means high-demand, high-risk work. Building a processing facility from scratch in remote Houhora required resourcefulness, like buying and shipping an entire packing room from Nelson. Zarn had to implement a ‘trust the process’ mindset.
"I was juggling a few things," Zarn admits. "But I knew I’d get there eventually by just moving forward and being patient… It started gaining traction; I started entering awards. I entered more food shows.”
The brand's traction is undeniable; Zarn recently sold 600 trays and offered 5,000 tastings at a most recent food show appearance. "That’s a good indicator of where you are,” Zarn says. “People were ringing the show afterwards to see who it was."
Behind every success is a dedicated team. Zarn works alongside his father, Sean, in the spat business, while his wife, Michelle, helps manage day-to-day operations for The Kutai Guy with the help of local Kelly. The name "The Kutai Guy" is a tribute to the local community and the venture's humble beginnings. "No one knows your name—you're the Kutai man or guy, and it stuck.”
The road to paradise is never without undulations, and the journey from "that guy who sells mussels" to "The Kutai Guy," an award-winning Kiwi producer, is no different. Navigating large-scale distribution while upholding premium quality in a price-sensitive market has tested Zarn’s ethos and the company’s resolve.
"This last winter has been tough," he acknowledges. "We are the high-end ticket in the smoked mussel market. A little bit of a treat… but it's good enough that people will still buy some even though things are expensive. People have only allocated so much to spend. So, when they buy your product, it’s a testament to your product.”
It’s still early days for The Kutai Guy, but they boast early success, a passionate following, and an exemplary business model. And the next challenge for the man selling mussels up north is a big one: getting stocked on supermarket shelves and navigating the protocols and regulations that come with it.
Regardless, for the Houhora team on a roll, such matters seem more molehills than mountains. They're ready to share their smoky delicacies with a broader audience, take on more shows and clinch more awards, all the time proving that even the quietest corners of our country are green enough to produce gold.
Order Kutai Guy mussels from the website.