Key Takeaways:
- Leanne Eloff Sinnema and Bayard Sinnema left their corporate lives in Auckland to move to Great Barrier Island, seeking a tighter-knit community and a more natural environment.
- Bayard’s business initiative, The Aotea Company, aims to develop products using key ingredients sourced from the island, such as mānuka honey and sea salt.
- The company’s goal is to create a boutique innovation hub on the island, focusing on sustainability and wellbeing, and providing employment opportunities for locals.
- Bayard hopes to create a sense of ownership and community involvement in the business, potentially setting up a scholarship or mentoring program for young people from the island.
- The island’s population is growing, with a 33.7% increase between 2018 and 2023, and Bayard sees an opportunity to create a niche market for boutique producers with a focus on wellbeing and sustainability.
Introduction to Great Barrier Island
The opportunity to immerse themselves in a tight-knit community and a landscape of wild, natural beauty was too good to pass by for Leanne Eloff Sinnema and Bayard Sinnema. They had an amazing holiday on Great Barrier Island the summer before, and Leanne had the idea to move there. Bayard had two provisos: uninterrupted access to the internet and selling up everything to find a place on the island. They did just that, and for the next three years, Bayard continued working remotely as the commercial director for a global glass manufacturing company’s team in Asia.
Challenges and Opportunities on the Island
Surviving the challenges of living on the island was a kind of initiation ceremony in itself. Pest control was a priority for Leanne, who’d inherited an underfunded school somewhat worse for wear after lengthy Covid lockdowns. When you don’t have all the services you once took for granted, you make do with what you have, she says. The island’s primary schools, including Kaitoke, have steadily grown their rolls over the past couple of years, and the community has come together to support each other. Bayard became embedded in the community, joining the Coastguard, running sausage sizzles at the school, and helping out as a fill-in masher at Aotea Brewing, a solar-powered craft brewery.
The Aotea Company
When his Singapore role wrapped up earlier this year, Bayard had another big call to make. He didn’t want another corporate job that would keep him with one foot on the mainland. Instead, he followed the advice he was given when they first moved to the island: Don’t rush the Barrier, a local told him. The Barrier will show itself to you. Bayard’s vision has now begun to unfold at lightning speed through his new business initiative, The Aotea Company. Several different product lines are being developed using key ingredients sourced from the island, including Barrier Buzz soda drinks, Stumpy & Chop, and the Island Salt Collective.
Products and Partnerships
Barrier Buzz soda drinks are sweetened with Great Barrier mānuka honey instead of sugar. The company has also launched Stumpy & Chop, boxes of naturally seasoned mānuka and kānuka splits for burning in a brazier, smoker, or barbecue. The Island Salt Collective is a range of artisan sea salt extracted from water collected off the coast and processed in a special condensation tent using energy from the sun. Bayard sees an opportunity to form a loose collective with other innovative boutique producers who have a focus on wellbeing and sustainability. He has partnered with local businesses, including Great Barrier Honey, which supplies the honey for Barrier Buzz sodas.
Community Involvement and Legacy
Bayard laid out his plans at a hui with the local iwi, Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai, and hopes to set up a scholarship or mentoring program for a young person from the island. He wants to create a sense of ownership and community involvement in the business, which he believes is critical in creating industries on the island where people can be employed. The legacy he envisions for his adopted home goes far beyond a few cottage industries. He hopes to create a boutique innovation hub that will provide employment opportunities for locals and attract new businesses to the island.
The Future of Great Barrier Island
The population of Great Barrier Island is growing, with a 33.7% increase between 2018 and 2023. Bayard sees an opportunity to create a niche market for boutique producers with a focus on wellbeing and sustainability. He hopes that his business initiatives will provide employment opportunities for locals and attract new businesses to the island. The island’s limited job opportunities mean that some people may need to work remotely or choose to live on the island part-time. However, Bayard believes that this hybrid model can work for many people, allowing them to live the values they need and come and go from the island as needed.
