Miraka is an iwi-owned dairy processor based north-west of Taupo.
Mavis Mullins, businesswoman and chairman of the Atihau Whanganui Incorporation, says Māori agribusiness has now been acknowledged in its own right because of its different approach and personality to business, to life and to balance.
Māori agribusiness is unique in that it is driven not only by financial outcomes but by principles of kaitiakitanga (responsibility), manaakitanga (supporting people) and taonga tuku iho mō ngā uri whakatipu (guardianship of resources for future generations).
"The change has been the recognition that Māori concepts and practices have a strong alignment with consumer values and environmental stewardship," says Mullins. "The balance between profit, people and planet is an imperative — and as a component of the national economy, Māori agribusiness continues to trend positively."
There has been a mergence of concepts such as Te Taiao (environment of soil, land, freshwater and living communities) and He Waka eke Noa (working in unity) that provide a balance between western and Māori science (matauranga).
"These concepts are being applied with greater attention to knowing our current state; how we do more with less chemicals, less animals and less interventions; and communities coming together to test and solve challenges such as the Tararua Plaintain project and Te Kauru Hapu initiatives on improving the health of the Manawatū River.
Plantain, a leafy herb with a coarse, fibrous root system and tolerance to summer heat, is being trialled as a feed for cows. Plantain is shown to reduce the nitrogen concentration in cows' urine, reducing nitrate leaching and greenhouse gas emissions, and improving waterways.
Mullins says the (Māori agribusiness) strategies are well-aligned to long-term, inter-generational thinking, planning and connection — farming to enhance the environment, farming to connect with the right consumers and their needs, farming to show hospitality, gratitude and care in the production of food and fibre products, and farming to bring health and wealth to Māori people.
"From my perspective, the view of Te Ao Māori is to produce and present safe, enticing, delicious food is a way of showing manaakitanga or hospitality, love and care to the consumer of that food. It is potentially these concepts that mark the exciting growth opportunities.
"Export is very important, but we have been reminded through Covid-19 that to provide for our own first should surely be our goal."
The latest Te Ohanga Māori report, prepared by Business and Economic Research (BERL) in conjunction with the Reserve Bank, estimated that the Māori economy was worth $68.7 billion in 2018, up from $42.6b in 2013. New Zealand's present gross domestic product is more than $320b.
BERL says the 60 per cent growth between 2013 and 2018 means the size of the Māori economy is likely to reach New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's estimate of $100b before 2030.
In 2018, nearly $21b resided within Māori trusts, incorporations and entities, with $14b in the natural resource-based sectors. The report said sheep and beef farming continues to dominate Māori assets in the agriculture sector, although assets in horticulture including kiwifruit are growing in significance.
Amongst the collectives, sheep and beef contributed $7.1b, dairy $2.75b, forestry $990 million, fishing and aquaculture $2.37b and kiwifruit $440m. The Māori workforce in agriculture, forestry and fishing grew to 22,500, with dairying taking more than 4000, sheep and beef 3200, forestry 2250, horticulture 3800. Meat and dairy processing also attracted more than 11,000 workers.
The report said "the Māori economy is key to the wellbeing of Māori, and is a significant and increasingly important contributor to the wider economy. Te Ōhanga Māori is no longer a separate, distinct, and clearly identifiable segment.
"It is a closely connected component of numerous pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that together make up the economy of Aotearoa."
BERL chief economist Hillmare Schulze said Māori were still key players in the more traditional primary sectors but the asset base was increasingly diversified. Any description of the Māori economy needed to go beyond Te Tiriti settlements — many businesses and trusts existed before the beginning of the settlement processes, producing goods and delivering services.
Chapman Tripp, in its Te Ao Māori Trends and Insights report, says further treaty settlements and increased merger and acquisition activity will drive the continued growth in the Māori economy. There will be increased participation in export markets, increased collaboration amongst Māori-owned entities, and increased social investment and disbursement among iwi members.
Chapman Tripp says assets are still largely concentrated in primary industries, though there is increased diversification into areas such as geothermal, digital, services, education, tourism and housing.
Māori own 40 per cent of New Zealand's forestry assets, 30 per cent of lamb production, 10 per cent of dairy production, 50 per cent of the fishing quota, 30 per cent of sheep and beef production, and 10 per cent of kiwifruit.
The treaty settlements have allowed iwi organisations such as Ngāi Tahu, Tainui, Tuhoe and Ngāti Porou to accelerate their interests in agribusiness.
Ngāi Tahu, for instance, has six dairy farms covering 2000 hectares at Eyrewell, north west of Christchurch, each farm having a 64-bail rotary milking shed and a herd of 1400 cows — with plans to increase the farmland to 6700ha and incorporating 150ha of native bush.
In addition, Ngāi Tahu has three High Country Stations near Lake Wakatipu totalling 36,000ha for sheep, deer and cattle breeding. Ngāi Tahu wants to become a 60,000ha farming operating, calling on the best expert advice and using the latest farm technology to minimise the environmental impact and maximise production.
Waikato Tainui owns more than 4000ha of farmland supporting dairy, sheep, beef and forestry operations.
With Tainui Group Holdings and Pioneer Capital, Ngāi Tahu has taken a 33 per cent stake in Waikato Milking Systems, one of the largest producers of rotary milking systems in the world and providing dairy farm solutions in more than 30 countries, including the United States, Russia and China.
Ngāi Tahu manages all its fisheries assets and exports lobster, oysters and mussels under the Tahu brand. It also leases annual catch entitlements of wet fish to partners with agreed catch plans for Ngāi Tahu fishers.
A group of trusts and incorporations, led by Wairarapa Moana Incorporation chairman Kingi Smiler and Tuaropaki Trust chairman Tumanako Wereta, developed the first Māori-owned milk processing plant, Miraka Dairy Factory, near Taupō.
Miraka, which has formed a partnership with investor Vietnam Dairy Products, has the capacity to process more than 250,000 litres of milk into powders and ultra-high temperature (UHT) products every year.
Taupō Pure Milk and Miraka Whole powders, and UHT products are exported to the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Australia and the Pacific.
The factory, powered by renewable geothermal energy, is supplied by 55,000 cows on 98 farms, and has an innovative waste treatment system where the fat and liquid from the wastewater is separated — with the fat going to a warm farm and liquid irrigated on to farmland.
The state-of-the-art UHT facility has a capacity for 60m litres a year, and Miraka has signed a tripartite agreement with Shanghai Pengxin and Mengniu to supply China.
Miraka has also invested in a $90 million GEA spray drier which was built onsite and produces eight tonnes of whole milk powder per hour.
Ngāti Porou has joined other iwi including Parininihi ki Waitotara, Iwi Collective Partnership and Ngāti Mutunga ki Wharekauri (Chatham Islands) in owning Port Nicholson Fisheries, in collaboration with Moana New Zealand.
Port Nicholson exports premium live lobster to China, and has the capacity to process 650 tonnes of lobster quota — almost half of the North Island and the Chatham Islands total allowable commercial catch and 23 per cent of New Zealand's total live lobster exports.
The proposed Māori investment fund, spearheaded by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, is looking to pool iwi assets and create a united investment vehicle.
Chapman Tripp says "if it materialises, the Māori investment fund could be a private equity co-investor with NZ Super and give the investment entities of Māori collectives access to previously out-of-scope deals, both in the domestic market and internationally.
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