When Adrian and Lania Pohio brought 120 beehives deep in the King Country it was in response to a fledgling passion for beekeeping.

Eight years later, and son Hayden is now on board with the award winning Boosta products he has developed with Mum and Dad’s honey.

Hayden has a Food Technology degree from Massey University and cut his teeth working in the food technology business both in the UK and as a production manager in New Zealand. Expanding the family business was a natural step.

“Honey is an amazing superfood. It is a healthy natural product.”

So while Adrian and Lania were busy selling their honey, Hayden got busy in the lab developing a range of honey-based healthy snack and energy bars.

Last year Hayden was one of the inaugural members of Poutama Trust’s Indigenous New Zealand Cuisine Cluster. The cluster is supported by Te Puni Kōkiri.

“Our ultimate aim is to better position Māori to build and leverage off their collective resources, knowledge, skills and leadership capability,” says Acting Deputy Secretary Relationships and Information Eruera Reedy.

“Through this cluster, we help Māori businesses capitalise on new and existing market opportunities,” he says.

For Boosta, the cluster opened a doorway to the potentially lucrative Asian market with an introduction, and subsequent sales, to a large Hong Kong supermarket chain. It’s early days yet, but Hayden is hopeful of more sales in the region when he returns later this year. In the meantime, he’s also enjoying the collegiality of the cluster and the opportunity to share ideas and sales opportunities with other small Māori business owners.

Indigenous New Zealand Cuisine project manager Lucy Cruikshank says since it was launched by Māori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples last August, the cluster headed by Māori entrepreneurs has grown beyond expectation.

“We’re connecting suppliers with one another, promoting the cluster nationally and internationally, and introducing buyers to this unique New Zealand portfolio,” Lucy says.

Last month she facilitated the first collective outing on the international stage, exhibiting at Hong Kong’s HOFEX, the largest food and hospitality tradeshow in the Asia-Pacific region. The event attracts more than 35,000 professional buyers – people that make decisions in the food and beverage, wholesale, import, retail and hotel sectors.

One of those hoping to cash in on that opportunity is Marlborough-based Tiki Wine.

Managing Director Royce McKean says his product is already finding some success in Hong Kong and China. The people feel an affinity with the good luck symbolism of its Tiki brand.

A company of his size could not afford to go it alone at a tradeshow the size of HOFEX, but sharing the cost with other cluster members makes it manageable.

He planned to use the event to cement relationships with existing clients, but is also aiming to increase the volume of his product in the region by attracting new buyers from the luxury hotel market.

So next time you dine at a five star hotel in Hong Kong or China, look out for a spot of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, or perhaps some Waipara Pinot Gris, or even a central Otago Pinot Noir – all bearing the name Tiki.