Hayley Fraser-Mackenzie is the Managing Director of Pacific Harvest, a New Zealand-owned & run business that supplies a variety of high-quality edible seaweed products.
Originally from land-locked Zimbabwe, Hayley’s grandparents & parents worked the land – as farmers or in horticulture. Following in her families’ footsteps, Hayley gravitated towards working with plants. That is, plants of the sea.
Genuinely passionate about natural, authentic products, when she came across Pacific Harvest late in 2019, the opportunity was too exciting to let pass so Hayley & her husband bought the business. For 20 years Pacific Harvest has supplied ethically harvested edible seaweeds throughout Australasia.
Hayley is incredibly passionate about the underwater world, and she shares with us how she built a thriving business out of seaweed.
We asked Hayley what her career path was like before Pacific Harvest…
I was very fortunate to have incredible international experience during my twenties and early thirties, working at Walt Disney Consumer Products in London and the company behind Bob the Builder, HIT Entertainment PLC (subsequently sold to Mattel). The toy industry is truly global and working for these two companies cemented the importance of brand positioning, developing relationships with networks of distributors and agents to develop global brands, not to mention a deep empathy for the end consumer! I also learnt about the importance of a great product – sticking a brand logo on something is not enough!
However, after having children, I found myself gravitating to more meaningful industries, with purpose that resonated with me personally. I had a brief experience with running an online store offering natural sleep products (at the time, with young children, sleep was illusive!), which taught me a lot about product my husband referred to as ‘an expensive, but valuable training course’!
When my children were young I became more involved with local community and not-for- profit/social entrepreneurship enterprises through contract and volunteer work. This was really cemented with 3+ years working for a trade development agency in NZ supporting exporters, mostly of food and beverage products. I learnt here that I am at my best when I am constantly learning and growing. I also observed first-hand the increasing importance of significance of provenance, and began to really appreciate the rise in plant based nutrition.
Was there a significant turning point that led you to Pacific Harvest?
Pacific Harvest felt like I had come a full circle. Our families have always worked with plants – either farming or in horticulture, so Pacific Harvest allows us to work with incredible aquatic plants! Given New Zealand has 15x more ocean than land, it seems fitting to be focused on the ocean!
I loved supporting other exporters, but felt I had unfinished business and longed to be at the face of it again. We wanted to be involved in a business that was good for people and planet and one which had strong export potential. Pacific Harvest ticks all the boxes!
You refer to yourselves as a ‘20 year old startup’, did you see potential in it from the get go?
The brand was established over 20 years in a slow, considered and authentic way. There is massive value in this as the trust and knowledge around harvest, seaweed species and we have honoured this trust and built upon it.
Seaweed is arguably the most sustainable food on our planet – it is said to contribute over 70% of our oxygen and plays a critical role sequestering carbon, cleaning and cooling the ocean. As a nutrient dense plant with low fat and high protein, in a time when more than ever people are proactively looking after their immunity and understanding that food is medicine, there is enormous for people to enjoy seaweed as a nutrient dense food.
Where seaweed comes from is important. Just as it absorbs nutrients it also absorbs toxins. As we are surrounded by pristine, relatively unpolluted ocean here in New Zealand, this offers us a natural advantage to other, more populated parts of the world.
So we see enormous potential, but a lot of education is still required with trade and end consumers, to bring seaweed out of the niche areas and into the mainstream food aisles.
Pacific Harvest is now the seaweed category leader in Australasia, what challenges did you face to get to that point?
The industry is still in an infancy in this part of the world. Education and the immaturity of the supply chain remain our two biggest challenges.
Regarding education – In some stores, you may see seaweed in an international section, in others a superfood section. We see seaweed simply as sea vegetables, and just as you would expect to eat a variety of land vegetables, we aim to provide a variety of sea vegetables. Although sea vegetables are an ancient food, many have not really seen them as a key food group.
We are specialists in a niche sector so our challenge is really growing the industry to a scale where it becomes more commercially viable, as this will continue to support the value chain to develop. Finding harvesters who can work to a food grade level is a challenge. All our seaweeds are tested to comply with the Australia New Zealand food code and are food safe.
What drives you? Why do you do what you do?
I regularly find myself covered with goose bumps talking about seaweed. I feel humbled to be working with an incredible, natural product – so good for people and planet. I want to be involved in an industry that leaves people better off, and part of helping to develop a new industry in New Zealand, which I believe we ultimately can be a global leader of. We also love providing a workplace that is flexible, fun and with a high level of autonomy – we are very lucky to have the team and culture that makes it so enjoyable to be at work every day.
What have you enjoyed most about your entrepreneurial journey?
I thrive in situations where I am slightly out of my depth….constantly! It’s highly rewarding seeing small and constant improvements across all areas of our business or having a conversation with a customer that gives us the ‘a-ha’ moment! We are on a journey to make small, constant improvements ~ how do we work to improve efficiency, reduce waste and continue to delight customers ~ these are questions we ask daily.
What are the qualities of a good entrepreneur?
- Listening to customers rather than just following a gut instinct
- Testing hypotheses but being able to pivot when a theory is not working!
- Surrounding themselves with talented, energetic people with different skill sets to
them!
What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
- Managing cash flow – growth is cash hungry
- Listening to customers – both what they don’t say and what they do say!
- Building an engaged team with diverse, complimentary skills and mindsets
Any tips or advice for building a thriving business?
- Lots of little improvements constantly
- Creating a culture where team feels valued
- Watching cash flow closely
- Celebrate little and big things
What do you want to achieve next?
We want both our brand and the huge benefits of seaweed to become well established in the Australian market. This requires us and other seaweed suppliers to grow the category and awareness of this incredible range of superfoods.
We are increasingly engaged with natural health practitioners across New Zealand and Australia and look forward to this becoming a more established channel as practitioners seek food safe supply of this incredible functional food to support their patient’s healing.
Also – breaking through to a space where we have more breathing space financially is a time I look forward to!
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