Bay firm takes up choc milk challenge

THE RIGHT MIX: Jonie Williams, owner of Origin Earth, with her new, yet-to-be labelled milk chocolate drink. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND

LEWIS ROAD chocolate milk has competition from Hawke's Bay-based dairy company Origin Earth.
Owner Jonie Williams said existing customers asked her to develop the product after a flurry of media attention about demand for the drink, a phenomenon she witnessed three weeks ago in Auckland.
"I went up to do some tastings with some of our customers and I was in a Farro Fresh at about 9.30am when two young girls - about 13 or 14 in school uniforms - walked in and stood next to the fridge," she said.
"An hour later they were still there and myself and another person were wondering what they were waiting for. There was a sign on the shelf saying Lewis Road Chocolate Milk and it said, 'Delivery at 12 o'clock'.
"As time went on people were continuing coming in and adding to the line. By the time got to 11.30am there would have been 150 to 200 people lined up in the shop - past all the dairy, past the meat, right ground past the bakery.
"When the product arrived only two-thirds of them got any and it was all gone in two-and-a-half minutes - all sold out."
Lewis Road was co-founded by serial entrepreneur Peter Cullinane, a former Saatchi & Saatchi worldwide chief operating officer.
The demand for chocolate milk was primarily achieved through social media.
Ms Williams said some of her customers were told they had to stock the whole Lewis Road range to have the chocolate milk "and started to ask when we were going to make a chocolate milk".
"We looked at what would be a really nice representation of Hawke's Bay in that category. We source our cocoa and white chocolate from Le Petite Chocolat, which is a lovely young couple in one of our fellow Farmers' Market stallholders.
"We source local honey, some of it from Arataki but the bulk from The Naked Honeypot, another Farmers' Market stallholder.
"So we have really endeavoured to make a Hawke's Bay and largely Farmers Market-representative product.
"We have made sure that we have priced ourselves competitively, we are just trying to produce a product that is fair value."
She said Lewis Road chocolate milk was "a little bit sugary".
Deciding on the final Origin Earth mix was through feedback. She made six "formulations" and set up stations in the Havelock North dairy's lunchroom for staff and associates "and tasted until we got down to two".
"The following day I made two small batches and took them both to the Farmers Markets and basically refined it from there down to one."
The decision to source fine-grade chocolate and honey effectively reflected Origin Earth's approach to its products. It was an approach which begin with the base ingredient itself - milk.
In terms of milk volumes, when combined with the issue of transporting it for processing, Origin Earth takes a "small is good" approach.
The company recognised the value of biologically active soils, pointing out that all the milk it uses can be traced back to the farm, the paddock and the animals of origin.
On its website, the company notes that milk is a "fragile liquid" and that the appropriate and minimal handling of it from the time it leaves the animal is imperative.
"We make no apology for taking a tender approach to working with the raw milk - this is reflected in our products."
The company's Havelock North factory is close to the farmer who supplies their milk and small batches were collected by staff for crafting into fresh milk (pasteurised but not homogenised) as well as cheese and pot set yoghurt.
"Our milk does not travel out of Hawke's Bay to be processed and then returned to shop shelves." It is available within hours of the morning milking.
Origin Earth's sheep milk is sourced from Andy and Kat Gunson's herd of East friesian sheep farmed off the Napier-Taihape Rd.
"We liken ourselves to top winemakers. The grape grower expertly grows grapes and the winemaker expertly makes wine from those grapes. Even the most experienced winemaker has difficultly making good wine from bad grapes - milk quality is exactly the same."
The firm also produces pot set yoghurt, Lebanese cream cheese, feta in brine, cambembert-style cheese, soft washed rind cheese and sheep's milk pot set yoghurt.