| 5 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Hohepa Farms The Hohepa community won two gold medals for their cheeses at last year’s NZ Champions of Cheese Awards, as well as three environmental sustainability awards. Hohepa proves a community success story Ange Davidson Every life fully lived’ is the guiding vision at Hohepa, a supportive community for intellectually disabled people in Hawke’s Bay. Carl Storey, land enterprise manager at Hohepa says the organisation’s core business is to provide meaningful opportunities for engagement, participation and contribution for the people they support. The land at Clive and Poraiti was originally farmed to feed the community but now the farm produces and sells fresh produce, dairy products, and ecosourced native plants with surplus produce sold locally and as far south as Christchurch. “On the farm our people are engaged and satisfied and make a full contribution as they walk about the farm carrying out tasks. “They help themselves to vegetables and enjoy the outdoors and spending time with the animals. Some of the people we support also work as paid employees on the farm, or in the shop or nursery,” says Carl. Hohepa has about 60 cows which are milked all year round in a six bail walk-through dairy shed, the last remaining shed of its type in the country. The walk-through model works well for the people they support as they can be in contact with the cows. “We produce around 1000 litres of fresh pasteurised milk each week which is sold from the Hohepa shops in Clive and Poariti or delivered around the Hawke’s Bay area. “We produce soft cheeses, quarks, yoghurt, feta, and a blue, and we’re the only producers of a Danish hard cheese called Danbo in New Zealand,” says Carl. The Hohepa dairy took home six medals at last year’s NZ Champions of Cheese Awards including two gold medals for their Danbo cheeses. In the same year, Hohepa won three environmental sustainability awards for their compostable plastic packaging, paper labels and non-toxic inks and Demeter certified farming practices. “The people we support attended the award’s formal dinner. They got up on stage to receive the awards and they just love it” laughs Carl. “They have a great time and we’re so proud of the mahi in our community. “For the environmental sustainability awards we showed the judges how our packaging is a great opportunity to educate customers about composting rather than recycling. We also talked about our fresh milk delivery sales where each glass bottle is used for at least 300 cycles and our deliveries are made in an electric vehicle. “We explained how farming biodynamically means we can store and lock carbon into the soils rather than have it released into the atmosphere and that we have a complete effluent cycle with minimal inputs to grow grass all year round. We use our cows to convert that grass into milk,” he says. Santiago De Marco, Hohepa’s General Manager has been involved with the community for more than 23 years and believes that a close connection to the land, its seasons and life rhythms are all part of the unique Hohepa experience. “The people we support experience so much joy in being involved in the community, and achieving and learning. They are able to grow and contribute to the community. “The success of the Hohepa story is something we celebrate as a community and is evident in each person we support,” he says. Hohepa is one of the oldest organic farms in New Zealand and the third largest employer in Hawke’s Bay. “We produce soft cheeses, quarks, yoghurt, feta, and a blue, and we’re the only producers of a Danish hard cheese called Danbo in New Zealand.” The issues facing the global dairy industry, coupled with an ever-shifting landscape demand that you use agile and accurate testing methodologies. Wherever you are located, whether testing cow, goat, sheep, or camel-based dairy products, we’ve got you covered! 75% of the world’s raw milk is tested with one of Charm’s kits. Where the SCIENCE of Food Safety is a way of life! ATPHygiene & Sanitation T : 09 576 7326 E : sales@foodtechsolutions.co.nz W: www.fts.co.nz Hohepaavoids issues in their qualitysystem&protects their products fromthe invisible, byusingCharmskits Fast Alkaline Phosphatase The NovaLUM IIX luminometer uses PocketSwab Plus ATP (adenosine triphosphate) swabs enabling total surface hygiene verification in only 5 seconds! Please contact: Food Tech Solutions Keep up with MPI & dairy manufacturers obligations under RMP. Rely on this for cleaning verification and validation of sanitation and hygiene practices. Help prevent cross-contamination and microbial procedures. Data is collected tracked/trended for HACCP documentation and food safety/quality audit purposes. - Room temperature stable - Self-contained & Single service tests - Allow (real-time) corrective actions! Ensure that dairy heat treatments designated as a CCP are applied as documented in the RMP heat treatment plan, in real time, using Charm’s FAP test methods! 06 876 7748 info@wcse.co.nz www.wcse.co.nz Wine Country Sheet Metal & Engineering are proud to support Hohepa 306 Alexandra Street, Hastings, Hawke’s Bay PO Box 14017, Hastings Paul 027 244 3354 | Kyllee 027 688 8677 Paul & Kyllee Henton • DAIRY • DEER • EQUINE • PIGS • BEEF • SHEEP • ANTI-FATIGUE • WINTERING @AgriTechImportsNZ pkhenton@xtra.co.nz www.comfycow.co.nz
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