Kia ora and welcome to Five on the Fly, where we sit down with local business people to hear their stories, challenges and hopes for Te Hiku.

In five quick questions, we get to know the person behind the business, what drives them and what they hope for the future of our region.

Interviewee - Ashleigh Manukau-McEwan

1. Tell us about yourself
Hey, my name is Ashleigh Manukau-McEwan and I am spoilt in my life. I have my dogs, who are like my best friends. I have a great soon-to-be husband, who is just as spontaneous as I am and I love travelling. My career in broadcasting has taken me all over the world, but nothing quite beats the paradise of living in the Far North. I am more landlocked nowadays with gardens, chickens and dogs and in my spare time I really enjoy making websites for other small businesses. That, and hanging out with my family. Although I grew up in Mangonui, I’ve lived away from home for the last 15 years, so it’s incredible to be able to drive up the road to make a sandwich using my parents $15 spreadable butter.

2. Tell us about your business

Two Hands—Local Producewas born when I got a dog (the best dog ever) and decided I wanted to stay at home more. So, I thought I’d get a job. It was around December that I started a full-time job, and I read on Facebook that the corn was being sold on the side of the road.

OHHHH YEAHHHH, I thought, we all know how good that fresh corn is. I was all excited until I realised I drove past Awanui at 7.30 in the morning and well after 5.30 in the afternoon. 

This happened for a solid 4 weeks before I said, out loud, in the car: “I cannot be the only one missing out”. 

And I wasn’t. So, the next week, I called the corn guys—Masters Produce, I called Reeds farm, I posted on Grow Kaitaia and said: “Look, I’m going to deliver your produce to customers all over the place. If they can’t get to us, we will get to them”.

And thankfully, they all said: “Nothing to lose, so I’ll supply you and let’s give it a go”. 

That’s how Two Hands–Local Produce started. We started to sell family-sized boxes and smaller-sized boxes with seasonal, locally grown fruit and veges straight from the garden to your doorstep. 

Then my Nana said,” Eh, I can’t support you buying a box because it’s too much kai and I ain’t letting good food be wasted on me”.

So, we introduced a third box—the Goldie box. Not because I wanted Nan’s money, but because she deserves good food. We all deserve good quality food, and just because we work full-time, we can only eat half a broccoli, or because we live out in the wops, doesn’t mean we should be forced to miss out on what our local growers (who have enough mahi growing kai let alone attending 100 markets or minding a shop) have to offer us. 

Now, we deliver local produce from Hihi to Taipa, Karikari Peninsula to Awanui, Pukenui to Kaitata, Ahipara to Herekino and Every. Single. Home. in between. 

The potholes down your road couldn’t stop me if they tried! 

3. What’s been your biggest challenge in business so far?

The biggest challenge by far was learning how to actually run a business. We weren’t charging for delivery because the profits were paying for the petrol, so all good. 

We were using our own personal, already bought cars, so it wasn’t a cost to buy a vehicle, so all good. Until the car broke down…not all good.

Suddenly, the business couldn’t go on until we fixed the car, but the business didn’t allocate any money for car repairs. 

So, that was a lesson in finance…. Fast. 

4. What’s been a highlight or proudest moment?
Biggest moment so far is that we finally, FINALLY launched a website where people were not limited to what our budget could fit in the boxes. Customers can now buy any produce they would like, adding in the options like free range eggs, fresh bread, and we added a space for locally made products. We were already driving the distance, so why not drop off other locally made products while we are at it? We currently have seven businesses offering their products online from cupcakes, to flowers, to balms and even locally grown and pressed olive oil.

We are pretty stoked about that.