Te Arawa Fisheries has wasted no time expanding the reach of their premium Hī seafood products into global markets.

While in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Te Arawa Fisheries moved quickly to develop a strategy that would ensure the business would not only recover from the impacts of COVID, but thrive.

Over the past two years, Te Arawa Fisheries has actively participated in international trade discussions, resulting in favourable outcomes for aquaculture in recent trade deals with the United Kingdom and European Union.

Te Arawa Fisheries Chief Executive, Chris Karamea Insley, says these new trade agreements create significant opportunities for premium Māori products, like Hī mussels.

In the same week New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins  made a flying visit to Canberra to reaffirm the two countries’ Closer Economic Relationship (CER) agreement, Te Arawa Fisheries is en route to Sydney to hold discussions with key stakeholders and Aboriginal leaders to explore trade opportunities.

“While in Sydney, Te Arawa Fisheries plans to connect with Te Arawa whānau there to review and brief them on our business strategy – Ka Pū Te Ruha.

“Our strategy looks far over the future horizon to diversify, innovate and future-proof our operation, and ensure even greater outcomes for whānau, both in the short and long term.

“Our strategy, alongside numerous workstreams, will take Te Arawa Fisheries to a whole new level, putting it at the leading edge of the industry in Aotearoa and on the global stage.

“Sydney is a mere stepping stone and plans are well underway to take our product into Asia; Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, in May. We plan to follow this with entry into the UK later in the year, when the UK FTA is formally ratified,” Mr Insley says.