Rural Women New Zealand is delighted to announce the winners of the RWNZ Enterprising Rural Women Award 2013, following an award ceremony at the opening of the Rural Women NZ national conference in Christchurch yesterday evening.

Liz Evans says “These awards, now in their fifth year, offer an opportunity for rural businesswomen to shine.  Our aim is to showcase and celebrate rural enterprise, and this year the judges had 20 strong entries to choose from.”

The Supreme Winner of the RWNZ Enterprising Rural Women Award 2013 is Diane Coleman of Treeline Native Nursery, based at Ngongotaha, near Rotorua.  Diane also won the Love of the Land category, sponsored by Agrisea Limited.  (www.treelinenursery.co.nz).   

Treeline Native Nursery, which Diane started 17 years ago, grows and supplies NZ native trees, shrubs and grasses for revegetation and ornamental purposes, growing 300,000 plants a year that are sold to councils, farmers, landscapers, developers and the home gardener.  

Rural Women NZ national president, Liz Evans, said Diane Coleman was chosen as the Supreme Winner out of a strong field of contenders, saying she displayed “skill, calm confidence in the progress of her business and a clear awareness of her market.”

“When demand for products slowed with the 2010 economic downturn, Diane adapted to conditions, made some innovative decisions and was able to maintain production levels.

“Added to this, the business is rural-based, employs several rural women and gives back to the community with fund-raising support.”

Other winners on the night were Jan Harper, of Bluespur Butchery in Lawrence, who won the Telecom-sponsored Help! I Need Somebody category. 

As one of New Zealand’s first female butchers, Jan, who’s been in the industry since 1977, said it was a ‘dream come true’ when she opened her own business, Bluespur Butchery, in 2009.  As well as selling meat to the public, a big part of the business is processing for farmers and hunters.

A very successful exporter of animal by-products from Waipukurau took away the Making it in Rural category, sponsored by Fly Buys Ltd.  Angela Payne runs Agri-lab Co-Products Ltd (www.agri-lab.com).  Utilising animal parts that previously may have ended up in the offal-pit, the company specialises in placenta, glands, membranes, tendons and glandulars, with 90 percent of the product exported.  This is shipped all over the world as raw products for the pharmaceutical and dietary supplements markets.

Kylie Stewart of Rangitikei Farmstay was announced as the winner of the Stay, Play, Rural Award, sponsored by Access Homehealth Ltd.  Her 1500 acre farm has been in the family since 1901 and Kylie has breathed new life into many of the old buildings to create attractive accommodation for up to 19 guests at a time who come from all over the world to get a taste of New Zealand rural life with farm tours, horse treks, clay bird shooting and shearing and mustering demonstrations on offer.  (www.rangitikeifarmstay.co.nz).

The judging panel also decided this year to give a special Rural Women NZ Encourgement Award.  This went to Lee Lamb, a young farming woman who lives in Waikaia, Southland.

As her children grew, and unable to find New Zealand farm-themed books to read to them, Lee decided to write and illustrate her own.  A self-taught writer and painter, Lee was also determined to have her books printed in New Zealand.  She now has four titles:  On the Farm Shearing, On the Farm Autumn Muster, On the Farm Milking Time and On the Farm Harvest.

In congratulating all the winners, Liz Evans said, “Running a successful business anywhere in today’s competitive economy is not easy.  It takes time, commitment, money and a passion to succeed. And, of course, you have to have the initial idea to get started.

“And, in the rural context, the start-up and ability to keep going can produce even more challenges. The logisitics of running a business away from a centralised urban area can throw up hurdles such as access to prompt transport and communication – not to mention  extra costs of freight and postage.  All our winners have jumped those hurdles.”

Bluespur Butchery and Deli is Jan Harper's business based at Lawrence in Otago. When the deli opened in 2009 it was a ‘dream come true’ for Jan, who’s been in the butchery trade since she left school.

Jan sells meat to the public, but the main focus is on processing meat for farmers and hunters. Lambs, pigs and venison are butchered and made into sausages, saveloy, burgers, and more. A popular service is gourmet lamb, where Jan creates barbecued cuts, marinated kebabs, mint-glazed lamb cutlets and ‘legendary’ burgers.

Visit Jan next time you're in Lawrence!

Lee’s business is based at Waikaia, Southland, where she is an author and illustrator of children’s picture books about NZ farming practices. She lives with her husband and two young sons on a sheep and beef station and has to date written and illustrated four books in the ‘On the Farm’ series. Keeping the stories true to life, they are educational as well as entertaining for children. She was an entrant in the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards and the Storylines Book Awards.

Visit Lee on Facebook to watch for the next book to come out.

Kylie Stewart's business, Rangitikei Farmstay, offers accommodation for up to 19 guests and a range of activities on and off the 1560 acre sheep and beef farm at Marton.

Kylie and her husband Andrew moved on to the farm in 2005, surrounded by beautiful landscape and scattered, largely unused buildings filled with ‘treasures’ – saws, stencils, pack saddles, and a push mower to name a few, used by the Stewart family on the farm for the past three generations. The couple began renovating the old buildings and first opened up a bunkhouse and farm museum. They have since converted three other buildings and have developed their farmstay business with farm tours, shearing and mustering demonstrations, horse riding, farm walks, clay bird shooting and hole in one golf.

They now see a range of guests from school groups, birthday parties, and overseas travellers. Continuing to develop, the couple are presently building a lake to begin water activities on the property. To set up your visit to Rangitikei Farmstay, find them online.

Lesley’s business is an online customer-driven Kiwiana gift store which has evolved since 2000 when she began supplying Kiwi goods to overseas customers on eBay. Shopenzed.com is now one of the largest online retailers of New Zealand-inspired gifts and collectables. The business caters for tens of thousands of customers worldwide, carrying over 3000 items, with more being added every week. All purchases carry a 365 day money back guarantee.

The customers are often ex-pat Kiwis, or people who want to travel of live in New Zealand or who have holidayed here. 90 percent of orders are shipped overseas, with Australia a growing market. Products include sheepskin boots, slippers, possum merino knitwear, NZ jewellery, rugby gear, souvenirs, books, cosmetics, food and more. Customer service is key to the business’ success, with ‘mad dashes’ to the nearest courier depot (a 50km round trip) to deliver a last minute order the norm. Free gift wrapping in exquisite wrapping paper adds that special touch.

Visit Shopenzed.com and browse the vast selection.

Diane Coleman’s business is based 20km north of Rotorua in the small community of Kaharoa. Treeline Native Nursery grows and supplies native trees, shrubs and grasses for revegetation and ornamental purposes. Established in 1996, in its first 12 years of operation production grew from 10,000 trees to 300,000 produced and sold.

An essential part of the nursery production is seed collection, and eco-sourcing seed has become a major factor in customer requirements. Diane travels through BoP and Waikato, contacting farmers for this task. The nursery’s location at 419m above sea level ensures plants are hardy and relatively pest free.

An interesting development over the last three years has been joining a bio-dynamic group and exploring planting by the moon, using an old Allied Farmers Co-op lunar calendar, which has streamlined the company’s propagation with surprisingly good results. Plants are supplied in bulk to councils, farmers, landscapers, developers and the home gardener.

You can view Treeline Native Nursery's catalogue and learn more by visiting its website.

Stephanie Lynch owns Sweetree Honey based in Horsham Downs, near Hamilton. The business involves every aspect of honey production, from caring for bees in 150 beehives, harvesting, packaging and direct selling at farmers markets, as well as through retail shops and the company website.

The bees have access to a wide range of flowering plants, and honeys from different areas are not blended with each other, meaning customers can choose a honey based on the location shown on the jar, such as Horsham Downs, Marokopa, Four Brothers Reserve and Hakarimata, with each having its own special characteristics. The company also produces bee pollen. 

You can order Sweetree Honey online and learn more about it at sweetreehoney.co.nz.

Lynne Johnston’s hair and beauty salon business is based at Riversdale in Southland. Herd About Hair & Beauty began in 2008 when she realised the need to diversify the family’s reliance on dairy share milking income after the downturn. 

She first re-opened a hair salon in Riversdale that had ceased trading a year and a half earlier, growing the business to employ staff to work alongside her. In response to the success of the hair salon she rented a second shop next door and employed a beauty therapist, offering a range of beauty treatments in addition to hair dressing. Both the hair and beauty salons are now open six days a week.

In the meantime, Lynne has grown her own family, with a fourth child born in February 2011. She is also still involved on the farm, rearing calves through the spring. The success of Herd About Hair & Beauty is based on offering rural people everything a city salon could offer, with exceptional service, with the mission statement ‘a little bit of luxury close to home.’ Visit the salon online for price lists and services.

Saskia Missaar owns Aotea Embrace based on the remote Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf. With little local employment and just 852 people living on the island, Saskia started the business in 2009 making soaps, massage oils, calendula balm and lip balms. She now also makes a range of body lotions, hand cream and face moisturisers. All Aotea Embrace products are made with essential oils and home grown ingredients such as manuka honey, herbs, flowers, native plants and clay, giving her products the ‘Barrier’ touch. 

Saskia sells her products to those with sensitive or dry skin and as gifts. She keeps her prices affordable. Starting the business was a real challenge with no banks on the island, limited water and limited transport to the mainland.

Visit Aotea Embrace online to find out more about where to buy products and what is available.

Diversity is the key to Diana Baird’s business, Fairview Enterprises, based in the Kawhatau Valley in the Rangitikei. She and her husband run a sheep and beef farm, orchard, farm forestry and cereal cropping operation.

Summer fruit production includes traditional style peacharines, plums and quinces, (there is no other commercial fruit production for 100km). They also have a Drysdale sheep stud and promote and market specialist carpet wool. The farm has two-tier forestry, with trees and grazing beneath, as well as multi-species forestry and amenity tree planting.

They have a walking route for private tours (Kawhatau Valley Walks), run on-farm research (current interests include bumble bees, Ume, succession and aquaculture), and are involved in Massey University case studies and tutoring. They have previously been successful in the NZ Ballance Farm Environment Horizons Awards. 

You can visit for the orchards and their fruits, or go on the Kawhatau Valley Walk.