22 | Sue Russell Tesh Randall savours success after her Raglan Food Co took out the supreme award at this year’s Primary Industries Good Employer Awards. BUSINESS Raglan Food Co Tesh Randall describes the experience of attending this year’s Primary Industries Good Employer Awards at Parliament as absolutely awesome, and that’s not because her Raglan Food Co, she co-founded in 2014 with business partner Sebastian Walter, received top prize in the Employee Development category but it also took out the Supreme Award. “Well, I had a speech prepared for if we were fortunate enough to take out Employee Development, but when we were announced as supreme winners I was a little lost for words.” All Tesh could think about saying was that when she and the team got back to homebase on the outskirts of Raglan, the first thing she would do was to ring the new ‘celebrating success’ gong. “We’re big on encouraging and recognising achievement. We recently bought a large gong to ring when something worth celebrating happens, so everyone can gather around and take some time out of the day to mark the occasion. It’s wonderful we will be ringing it to celebrate this national success,” Tesh says. The MPI/Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (AGMARDT) Good Employer Awards are in their third year, with the core purpose of celebrating employers who put their people at the heart of their businesses. Raglan Food Co is a young and dynamic business where employees are encouraged in all sorts of ways to contribute to its vision and goals. The business also supports its staff in a myriad of ground-breaking ways. These include a special Health & Wellbeing Fund, a Wage Cap Policy between entry level and experienced staff, and a profit share programme. “Each member of our team has the opportunity to grow professionally through a career growth framework which enables them in time to specialise in a particular skill/activity or to become managers.” Performance reviews use a 360° feedback system and regular team meetings keep all engaged and informed on current business as well as afford opportunities for new initiatives to be discussed. “Staff also critique their role and provide management with really valuable feedback. We are very much a team and everyone’s input is valued.” COVID has slowed growth down somewhat and Tesh says demand from their export markets has been noticeably reduced. There’s a continuous pursuit to look seriously at creating new products and within the business a small team of food technologists research new product options. Most recently, vegan mayo and vegan aioli are being manufactured. “That was our first attempt to make something that wasn’t coconut based and we’ve been so pleased with feedback from customers. It took ages to create these recipes so its heartening to see they are selling well.” Come September a brand new range of products will be launched and matching this ‘Celebration gong’ ringing in Raglan further expansion in product offering has been the decision to increase warehousing and office space. Raglan Food Co has also pioneered a new brand ‘Foodie Friends Box’, developed over COVID as a way for a group of manufacturers to engage in new ways in the online market. It’s a collaboration of 20 brands, with $150 worth of food products for $75. Needless to say, the 250 boxes created sold out quickly. “The next Foodie Friends Box will be launched in August for online orders.” Underpinning the way Raglan Food Co works, at every level, is a waste-not approach where little is discarded. Aligned to the company is a new brand ‘Reforged’ which is the result of some clever thinking. “We always wanted to find ways to upcycle our steel drums that the coconut cream comes in. “Our lead engineer, Dave, has designed and engineered Pohutakawa-themed braziers to on-sell. We’re thinking of other things we can do with these drums.” Tesh’s role has recently changed to now be ‘Head of Impact’ a role of engagement with community initiatives, maintaining important accreditations like their Certified B Corporation status, and creating projects that reflect Raglan Food Co’s ethos of care and respect for the environment at all times. Factory tours offer visitors a chance to see the factory processing its array of food items. “We’ve been so fortunate so far in our journey. We’ve been able to increase hours for those staff who want to work more, however our standard week is still 30-35 hours. We believe in work/life balance.” To see other projects Raglan Food Co supports, a visit to the website is full of useful information: www.raglanfoodco.com “We recently bought a large gong to ring when something worth celebrating happens ... It’s wonderful we will be ringing it to celebrate this national success.” Raglan Food Co founders Sebastian Walter and Tesh Randall, and some of the company’s range of products.
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