The Beginning
When Jacqui and her husband Dan were traveling through Peru in South America, Dan made a comment on just how similar the landscape was to parts of the Central Plateau of New Zealand (NZ), where Dan’s family has been farming for four generations. It captured their interest to start looking at different crops, and this sparked the idea and question, “Could we possibly grow the native ancient crop quinoa in New Zealand?”
Fast forward 2 years and Jacqui, using her background in biologically focused agronomy, began to trial four different varieties of quinoa to see its suitability to the short season, high altitude growing conditions of New Zealand. Through her research, Jacqui learned that no one else in New Zealand was growing quinoa commercially. Jacqui identified a particular variety that matured in less than 110 days and yielded well in trials. And there began the birth of Kiwi Quinoa.
From crop failure to importing new technologies, the move into something different hasn’t been without its challenges. There’s been more than one occurrence when the living room has been covered in quinoa, and the hairdryer got a work out attempting to dry the grain. “When you’re pioneering a new crop, like anything, you’re faced with all these new learnings, some that are costly. You’ve got to have a problem-solving approach and keep the big picture in mind.”
From Idea to Reality
Since the times spent on the living room floor and a few emotional nights, Jacqui and Kiwi Quinoa have developed a retail package and most recently, started entering collaborations with the food service industry. One such collaboration with Chef Peter Gordon put their quinoa at an event which included serving President Barack Obama.
Jacqui says their quinoa, grown in NZ’s temperate climate, tastes different to imported quinoa and has a mild nutty flavor and doesn’t have any of the bitterness that the imported quinoa tends to have. Jacqui encourages consumers to experience quinoa when it’s cooked and prepared into a dish as many people still don’t even know what quinoa is. And of those that do, not many people have actually cooked it. “There’s a huge amount of education required to increase the per capita consumption.”
However, for Jacqui, the children and family life are still her focus. “First and foremost, I’m a mum.” When the kids are both at kindergarten, Jacqui spends the vast majority of the day working on Kiwi Quinoa. Usually, she is juggling two kids and activities with work emails, wholesale orders, marketing her business and in meetings. “There’s a huge amount of work still to be done. I think that’s always the case when you’re launching a new product – it’s a labor of love.” As their crop matures and Jacqui continues to use her agronomy expertise to further advance and optimize the crop, she feels that the momentum is there now, and it’s starting to become quite rewarding.
Niche Farming and Sustainability
Before starting any new venture, the most important thing is to understand who is going to buy your product. What does the consumer want? Are they looking for locally grown, spray free, family farmed, high protein, or plant-based? How much are they prepared to spend and how are you different or better from what’s currently on the market?
Kiwi Quinoa is undoubtedly a niche crop – and Jacqui comments that it’s still a long way off becoming a commodity crop. The advantage that Jacqui sees is they are one of the first in New Zealand to grow quinoa commercially, which validates her theory that the market place wanted a New Zealand grown product. Consumers are increasingly demanding transparency around how their food is produced and in particular millennial consumers, there is a connection and trust associated with the growing practices, values, and the story of a family farm. Jacqui believes that how farmers decide to farm into the future directly impacts not only human health and environmental health but the overall planetary health. “My thoughts are that the future of agriculture is at a point where it undeniably needs to start solving environmental, carbon, consumer and ecological challenges.” Taking this philosophy to heart, Jacqui has made the stance not to use any chemical sprays on their quinoa plants. “We’re producing food for human consumption, and we want it to be full of nourishment and free from chemicals.” Jacqui also believes in looking after the soil and that feeding the plant what it requires results in a healthy plant that is much less susceptible to insect pressure and produces a wholesome, nourishing seed.
Kiwi Quinoa grows at altitude in the Central Plateau of New Zealand. The benefit of growing quinoa at altitude means that pest and fungal pressure on the plant is much less than in lower parts of the country. Quinoa originates from South America where it has thrived at altitude for thousands of years. As quinoa is still a reasonably new niche crop to the rest of the world (outside of South America), there are no registered in crop herbicides that you can use. This is not so much an issue for Kiwi Quinoa as they’ve chosen to grow it spray-free, based on their values but also consumer demand.
Before growing quinoa on the farm, the operation had been a sheep and beef high country farm of approximately 1500 acres. With minimal ground that can be cultivated (only around 125 acres), crops were limited to an annual winter crop of Kale and Lucerne, which is known as Alfalfa and used for bailage. The remainder of the farm is in permanent pasture.
Jacqui studied Agricultural Science at the University of Melbourne and went on to practice in New South Wales, in an agronomist’s role with a biological fertilizer company. Jacqui and Dan harvested their first commercially ready crop in 2016 and since then have continued to grow their crop and look forward to putting Kiwi Quinoa on dining tables across New Zealand.
To learn more about Kiwi Quinoa watch this episode of Hyundai Country Calendar from TVNZ.
For more information on the #WomenInAg series, please see our related blog posts:
Ag lenders find meaning in role as farmers' trusted adviser
Ann Vote connects teachers to bigger lessons in agriculture
Jessie Alt's farm roots take her to an enriching career of plant breeding
Be sure to check back on our blog to hear more from Women in Agriculture.
