Husband and wife Edda (Ngāti Porou) and Stephen McCabe returned home to Gisborne after working in Wellington for 30 years - Stephen as a chef and Edda in clerical and administration work.

The couple decided to purchase their own business after being unable to find employment. They bought an already established Gisborne business - Aunty Von’s Foods - specialising in lemon honey, also known as lemon curd or lemon butter.

Aunty Von’s started in 1996 when a Gisborne school girl working on a business project decided to make her grandmother’s old lemon honey recipe and sell it as part of her project.

Twelve years later, Aunty Von’s is still selling its delicious lemon honey in four sizes - 30g glass, 340g jar, 1.5kg pail and a 5kg pail.

“We are the fourth owners of this business and we believe that each owner has added a little something special to the product over the years,” says Stephen.

It was when Edda was working out at the gym she met Te Puni Kōkiri regional director Mere Pohatu and asked if Te Puni Kōkiri could assist their business.

In November 2007, Aunty Von’s Foods entered the Te Puni Kōkiri Business Facilitation Service mentoring programme.

“Our business mentors, Geoff Milner & Associates, were very professional, knowledgeable and approachable,” says Edda. “Our thanks to the business mentoring programme - may it continue to support Māori in business - and thank you to Te Puni Kōkiri,” she says.

Aunty Von’s next step in their business plan is to expand their range of food products by exploring other traditional recipes they could market.

For more information about Aunty Von’s Lemon Honey, email wholefoods.gisborne@xtra.co.nz or phone 06 863 0526.