MEET YOUR {OUTSTANDING} MAKER - OAKLEY’S

Oakley’s Baby Golden Gourmet Potatoes were awarded a Silver Medal in 2021 with the judges noting that the gourmet potatoes filled a niche by being small, buttery and golden – and ‘lovely to eat’. It’s this sort of innovation that ensures this multi-generational family business stands apart. April Oakley, the sixth generation to work in the family’s horticultural enterprise, shares the ‘good oil’ on the family business.

After growing up on the back of a harvester, it was Covid that was the impetus for April to join the family business. In late 2019 after completing her undergraduate degree she took up a holiday job to assist with Oakley’s sustainability programme and ended up staying on when New Zealand was thrown into lockdown.

More than two-and-a-half years later, after working in several departments in the company, April has found the balance; working part-time in marketing with Oakley’s while undertaking her Masters of Business at Lincoln University.

The Oakley family has been growing since the 1870s when John Oakley emigrated to New Zealand from the United Kingdom and began growing vegetables in Canterbury’s Halkett location. He passed the business onto his son, William Oakley. William’s son, Walter Oakley purchased his own farm in 1934 and invented modern farming equipment which revolutionised the horticulture industry. In 1957 Graeme Oakley, son of Walter and Rose, bought the original titles of the family farm in Halkett and he worked with his father until the early ’80s. Graeme’s son Robin (April’s father) started his own business, Oakley’s Premium Fresh Vegetables Ltd., in 1999. Soon after that, he purchased land in Southbridge, moved there with his family, built a packhouse and set up offices in 2004.

In 2012 Robin launched the Oakley brand. From there he developed the original Golden Gourmet potatoes and since then Oakley’s has expanded to new products like their Trio of Gourmets as well as the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Award-winning Oakley’s Baby Golden Gourmet Potatoes.

Driving the development of new products and building a brand are only two of the skills Robin Oakley uses in leading the business. April explains that her father has also driven the company’s move toward being more sustainable. “Kaitiaki is very important to our family, what you give the land it gives back to you,” she explains. Robin Oakley’s investment in sustainability began more than a decade ago when he moved the business to precision agricultural practice. Harnessing the ability to use GPS the company began watering and fertilising using tools which ensure they only give plants what’s necessary, not wasting precious resources like water.  Oakley’s efforts have been recognised by the Ballance Farm Environment Awards in 2020, where they won three awards for excellence in soil management, scientific monitoring and innovation.

While innovation and sustainability drive the business, the family’s belief in giving back underpins its place in the community. April explains that when she was young her family lived on the same farm in Halkett as her grandparents Graeme and Dorothy, who led by example. “Giving back has always been something the family’s done. Grandma led the establishment of the Canterbury Rural Support Trust, which she chaired for 25 years and served as the national vice-president of Rural Women of New Zealand for six years. For as long as I can remember we’ve always dropped off boxes of vegetables at the school and the local fire brigade.”

Today, Oakley’s website reads like a checklist of what seems like every community group in the Selwyn District which has received support from the family’s business; from the Ellesmere Food Bank and St John Ambulance & Westpac Rescue Helicopter through to the Ellesmere Running Festival.

Oakley’s future outlook is bright. They have just installed one of the South Island’s larger solar systems, a 220kw solar operation to power their Southbridge site. During the daytime, they harness energy from the sun to power their packhouse, enabling them to efficiently store, wash, pack and dispatch fresh vegetables across the country.

Oakley’s Premium Fresh Vegetables are widely available throughout New Zealand at Farro, Moore Wilson’s, PAK’NSAVE, New World and Four Square supermarkets. To learn more about Oakley visit their website.