Kiwi coming home

Matt and Hope first started OtherNature as a side hustle while they were living and working in London. The couple had long been fans of mushroom supplements as a way to support their own health and wellbeing, and Matt says they wanted to not only build a brand that took a science-based approach to efficacy but also allowed them to move into an area of business that was much more purpose-led.

“We really wanted to create a brand that goes above and beyond just products. Sustainability is important to us and really links back to our products and the importance of fungi in the environment. Although just at the beginning of our journey, OtherNature already has a circular packaging model, partners with 1% For the Planet, and is working to become a carbon-neutral and B-Corp business.”

The sustainable focus of OtherNature was one of the key reasons the couple wanted to launch their brand in New Zealand. Matt is Canadian, but Hope is originally from Christchurch and so the couple began to look at the support offered to startups in the Canterbury area. Hope says New Zealand Trade and Enterprise were hugely valuable in connecting the couple with other people and when they arrived, they found the support provided by organisations like ChristchurchNZ incredible.

“We were lucky enough to be accepted into The Founder Catalyst Incubation Programme, run by the Ministry of Awesome, which is designed to support, nurture, and accelerate the growth of early-stage startups with global ambition and that was a huge boost for us. We were also paired with two incredible mentors at ThincLab out of the University of Canterbury, who worked with us on a fortnightly basis, which was also a huge benefit.”

Hope and Matt say there were some definite hurdles to overcome ahead of the initial launch of their business. OtherNature’s mushrooms are grown in China and imported to New Zealand where they are then blended with native New Zealand ingredients and finished into supplement form by a specialist lab based in Hamilton. When they arrived back in New Zealand, pandemic restrictions and supply chain issues were still very much a problem.

Despite the challenges, their business has started strong, in part Matt says because of the time they took with their team of industry experts to design their product and the increased focus on the benefits of mushrooms and natural supplements in general.

“Lately the science has really caught up and there’s been a renewed interest in all facets of medicinal mushrooms from psychedelic ranges to functional mushrooms. Mushrooms can be beneficial for all sorts of things from gut health to sleep to stress. The global medicinal mushroom market is worth $25 billion globally, and it’s growing at around 9% a year.”

Hope and Matt launched OtherNature with one product designed for focus and cognitive health but have several others in the pipeline. The feedback on their business has been amazing and they are seeing a really strong sales growth and return rate from customers.

Outside of work, the couple both agree that living and working in Christchurch has given them the lifestyle balance they were lacking in London and while Hope is enjoying being closer to her friends and family, Matt is enjoying the outdoor options that Christchurch offers and says the city has offered the couple a lot more long-term options.

“Compared to London, the cost of living in Christchurch was a welcome change, it’s also a lot more affordable in terms of getting around. We were expecting the start-up scene to be a lot more of a grind, but we do notice that people work hard all day but tend to be gone from the workspace by 5-6 o’clock. There is a far healthier culture here in terms of building your business but also making sure you have time to step away from it.”

Hope says coming from London, the couple definitely had to adjust to life back home and that adjustment took some getting used to, but the support they have received has made the move more than worth it.

“When we first moved, we knew we were going to be in Christchurch for at least a year, but because we received so much support through various organisations and we had this amazing workspace with Founder Catalyst, it made the city a really great place for us to continue to be based. We would like to expand as the business grows and we are looking at setting up an office in Australia or the UK, but we always see the business as having a base in New Zealand. I really love the new scene in Christchurch, there are great restaurants and cafes, and the city is really vibrant – the only problem is that we are pouring everything into the business so we can’t enjoy the food and wine scene as much as I might like to.”

Tram in Christchurch city New Zealand — Christchurch has a lot to offer Kiwi looking for a change of lifestyle

Matt says he wants other founders to know about the amazing support on offer in cities like Christchurch and would encourage anyone looking to launch a business to put the time and effort into making connections in their chosen area as it really pays off in the long run.

“I would tell others to have a list of people that you need to connect with, organisations like Kea, NZTE, the startup communities and the startup accelerator programs. These connections immediately insert you into the community you need to be in and it just makes everything so much easier. This is my number one thing, because if you’re going to make that jump to becoming a founder, you need the additional support and a group of like-minded people around you because entrepreneurship can be lonely. Both Hope and I came from big teams and big corporations and then all of a sudden it was just the two of us and that was a huge shock to the system that we hadn’t truly anticipated, and it was hard. But people here are so friendly and willing to chat, it’s not just a transactional conversation they really want to help.”

Kea supports a vibrant community of almost half a million Kiwi in 185 countries. In our latest survey we had more than two and a half thousand respondents from 65 different countries.

Our offshore community remain some of New Zealand’s biggest brand ambassadors and one of the sentiments that came through most strongly in this year’s surveys was how proud people are to be considered a ‘New Zealander’ by their global peers. Many of you commented that Kiwi are known as hardworking, innovative, humble, friendly and up for giving anything a go. These are qualities you are proud of and it’s important for our community to live up to them.

However, what was also portrayed strongly is how deeply this sense of identity and pride was disrupted during Covid. Many of you felt excluded and disconnected from New Zealand, and told us that this is a feeling which will take time and empathy to heal.

“My New Zealand identity was always of major importance to me. Unfortunately, the difficulties experienced during COVID and as a direct result of New Zealand’s extreme border controls has shifted my sense of identity. I will never understand why New Zealand citizens living abroad were subjected to the impossible MIQ process. It is not an understatement to say that I felt rejected by New Zealand.”
– Survey respondent

“I would suggest trying to understand and empathise with overseas New Zealanders that were negatively affected by New Zealand’s closed borders and how some of the hurt that has been caused will be difficult for some people to overcome.”
– Survey respondent

Even with this sentiment, there remains a continued strong desire to support New Zealand businesses through offering insights and advice, buying and recommending Kiwi products, and encouraging people to visit New Zealand.

“I think we need to encourage the notion that even though some of us work abroad, we are still connected in so many ways, concerned about our home country and wanting to be involved in different ways.”
– Survey respondent

“I am interested in supporting New Zealand people and initiatives of any kind that may benefit from expatriate people’s international experience and connections.”
– Survey respondent

“I love encouraging people to visit New Zealand. Even though I have been away for a few years now, I remain proud of our beautiful country and want to share it with others.”
– Survey respondent

To stay better connected with New Zealand, many of you want information on voting rights for the 2023 New Zealand General Election and also want to hear about things like movie releases, music tours and sporting events in your area. These are all areas Kea will look to connect with you on, via our digital channels this year.

If you would like to update your details to make sure you receive this information please sign in to your Kea account here.

For those of you looking to return to New Zealand there was a clear sentiment that work needs to be done to better support and value returning Kiwi, especially from the business community.

“Despite being highly skilled and flexible on both work and salary, I don’t think there was any meaningful consideration given to my job applications. I ended up questioning the ability of New Zealand managers to read/understand international CVs.”
– Survey respondent

Changing trends survey statistic three diagram of a pie chart

Remote working and flexible working policies were top of mind for those of you searching for a new role and many of you would like to be made aware of Kiwi roles which could be filled remotely from overseas. We will continue to try and connect offshore and returning Kiwi with talent via our jobs platform.

It was interesting to hear why some Kiwi chose to remain offshore while others are planning to return home. For the third year in a row we saw family and lifestyle come through as the biggest reason to return to New Zealand and we understand that the cost of living and house prices are difficult challenges to overcome.

Changing trends survey statistic two diagram of a pie chart

The biggest appetite for Kiwi to return home comes after 3-4 years offshore. The timeframe has remained consistent over the last two years however at the beginning of 2020 the peak was earlier at 1-2 years offshore time. This timeframe is likely to be affected by external factors such as Covid lockdowns, visas, working holiday caps and how entrenched people’s lives have become in their country of choice. No matter where in the world Kiwi travel to – for the majority of you New Zealand is still considered home. This doesn’t change the longer you are offshore although some of you did share that while you would like to return to New Zealand, having grand children, spouses or spouses families overseas meant you would find it hard to leave. A quarter of you would, however return home for the right job.

“My children and grandchildren live in the USA. If it weren’t for them, I’d love to return to New Zealand.”
– Survey respondent

“I think we need to encourage the notion that Kiwis are a team of 6 million and even though some of us work abroad, we are still connected in so many ways, concerned about our home country and wanting to be involved in different ways.”
– Survey respondent

After three years of restrictions and lockdowns offshore Kiwi are embracing networking once more, with respondents naming connection opportunities as the key way to stay connected.

Returning home has become a longer term plan for many of you. The feeling of urgency to return indicated by respondents in Kea’s two recent surveys, Welcome Home [Nov 2020] and Future Aspirations [July 2021] appears to have abated. Kiwi have a renewed confidence in being able to secure flights, enter and leave the country without barriers means relocation plans are more fluid and timeframes to return have relaxed.

Returning Kiwi are also settling down in areas outside the main regions, with 18.4% are taking the plunge to move somewhere new. Auckland shows the largest negative value as a favoured location for returners, with Nelson, Wellington and Otago close top favoured choices.

Kea’s community returning to New Zealand bring with them extensive and valuable offshore experience – 77.4% are coming home with more than 10 years experience living and working offshore under their belts. Plus people are returning with experience in key sectors where New Zealand is facing skill shortages including tech, healthcare and the services industries. Ensuring these Kiwi are welcomed, valued and supported with the right resources will prove incredibly worthwhile for businesses.

We received more than two and a half thousand responses to our survey and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to answer. Our offshore Kiwi community is a powerful resource for New Zealand and we appreciate your support of Kea.

Our Exploring Kiwi survey (EK) targeted Kiwi leaving New Zealand and was in-market from May to October 2022 and our Changing Trends survey (CT) targeted Kiwi living offshore and those who had returned to New Zealand and was in-market from August to October 2022. We would like to thank our global community for sharing their thoughts with us.

To help New Zealand businesses better connect with offshore and returning Kiwi, Kea has published our latest report ‘Talent for the taking – How to globalise your recruitment strategies.’
This report is based on insights from our surveys and is available to purchase here.

Ross left New Zealand as a young professional looking to gain experience overseas. After spending some time in China, his company offered him a job in Denmark. He originally thought he would stay for a year or so, but ended up living in Copenhagen for eight years.

“I just really just loved it. I kept getting amazing opportunities and growing my experience and knowledge base. I’ve had some quite exciting roles and the privilege of working on some really, really large projects. I always thought I would come back to New Zealand at some point in my career, but when you’re overseas, New Zealand seems really, really small. You sort of find yourself sitting there wondering, if I do come back to New Zealand, what am I going to do?”

Ross and his wife enjoy exploring all Christchurch has to offer

After a decade offshore Ross was approached by the founders of Kiwi startup Leaft foods. The company has developed technology to extract protein from green leaf sources with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of food production and working to create more sustainable farming practices.

“When the founders John and Maury reached out to me and described their passion and vision for the business I realised that even at this really early stage that this could be really something transformational from a food production point of view. That thought really excited me and I knew this was a role I could bring my experience and knowledge back to, all those opportunities I had overseas over the past decade, I knew I could bring those learnings back to New Zealand and contribute in a meaningful way.”

The role was based in Ōtautahi Christchurch – a city known for its leading agritech and food production sector, which Ross says is a great place for the business to be based because of the opportunities the region provides.

To be able to live here and still work on projects that could have global impact, is really, really special. I sort of pinch myself every morning when I wake up.”

“The Canterbury Plains are like the breadbasket of New Zealand, with their ability to produce a huge amount of food which is great, however there are also challenges around things like the environmental impact of that food production. For a company like ours these challenges provide opportunities, we know we need to find solutions to be able to work with farmers and do things differently. And of course this is a great place to be because there are some great people here to work with.”

Ross was familiar with the city as he had gained his engineering degree at Canterbury University. Still it came as something of a culture shock moving from Copenhagen to Christchurch.

“I initially had to find somewhere to base myself and the only place available that met my needs was in Diamond Harbour, in Banks Peninsula. Moving to such a small place from such a bustling international city is quite surreal! But you have these views, with the hills around you and the ocean’s absolutely beautiful. You’ve got the Port Hills where you can go cycling after work and then on the weekends you can go up into the Southern Alps and climb a mountain. For Kiwis that probably seems quite natural, but when you spend a long time living overseas in big cities, it’s quite impossible to just suddenly, on a Saturday, go and climb a mountain. That’s quite an amazing privilege we have in this country. To be able to live here and still work on projects that could have global impact, is really, really special. I sort of pinch myself every morning when I wake up.”

Ross’ job at Leaft Foods allows him to work on global projects while still enjoying the Kiwi lifestyle.

While Ross has been making the most of the opportunities his new lifestyle offers him, he admits moving home has taken a bit of getting used to and Kiwi returners need to prepare themselves for a few adjustments.

“Coming from a big city back to the village so to speak, is quite a culture shock. All the hustle and bustle is gone. I also find a noticeable change in the way business is done. In the States and Europe you get used to cycling through a large number of business interactions in a short period of time, and there are lots of companies all doing the same thing. But if you operated like that in New Zealand it would seem a bit impolite. Here there is much more focus on relationship building and doing business is often more about the long game, that’s definitely something I have had to adjust to over time.”

Ross says one of the best things about being a Kiwi is our attitude towards getting out and seeing the world, and he would always encourage others to take up those opportunities.

“It’s important to experience different ways of doing things, to get out and get that exposure and gain that knowledge from other parts of the world. But once you have experienced that I would really encourage people to bring those skills and insights back to New Zealand. For me personally it’s been a hugely satisfying experience to come back to my home country and to feel like I’m contributing to something bigger than myself and making a difference globally.”

This content has been created as part of a paid partnership with Christchurch NZ. If you would like to learn more about moving to the city please visit the Christchurch NZ website here

How to get a head start on finances, including opening bank accounts from offshore and transferring money to New Zealand
Tips on the relocation process including five things that should be top of your checklist and why your first few months in New Zealand could be a bit of a roller coaster
Insight from a Kea community member who recently moved to NZ – including tips on packing, job hunting and the value of good Kiwi networks.

A huge thank you to Yuan Tien from Bank of New Zealand, Bridget Romanes from Mobile Relocation and Jonathan Jolly for your insights.

Make sure to take a look at our full coming home resource list here and check out the resources below that were mentioned in the webinar:

Kea welcome home resources
Kea talent platform
Kea community events
“New Zealand really casts a spell on you” – Kea speaks to American-born Jonathan Jolly who came to New Zealand as part of an OE several years ago and recently moved back to Aotearoa

BNZ

Kea x BNZ – Moving money home – Finance experts at BNZ give 10 tips you need to know if you’re thinking of moving your life back to New Zealand.
Finding a home – BNZ have collated a list of everything that you need to think about when looking to take that first step in buying a house.
Applying for a mortgage – once you’ve found the home you want, BNZ have listed everything you should consider when applying for a mortgage in New Zealand.

Mobile Relocation

Maz Kassis has always loved data. After graduating from Sydney University with a Masters’s in Biostatistics he worked in various health related roles across both state and federal government, before being shoulder tapped by the World Health Organisation for a job in Switzerland. While there he met a number of people in the finance sector who convinced him to come to London and use his data knowledge in the banking industry, after a few years in the sector he was ready for a more ‘down to earth’ role and was contacted by some former colleagues from the UN who were looking for a way to use data to help them best distribute funds to Syrian refugees crossing the border into Jordan. It was during his time in Jordan that Maz met and married his wife and the couple moved back to Australia, but after the birth of their second child, Maz says they decided to move to New Zealand.

“My wife said neighbours in Jordan had told her that New Zealand was a really great place to raise kids and we were looking for a lifestyle change. I had a great job in Australia but the hours were long and we wanted more balance. I started looking around for work and found this role steering the Data Analytics team, and indirectly leading the IT function of Foodstuffs.”

Maz is the first person in the 100 year history of Foodstuffs to officially have the words data and analytics in his title, although the Kiwi Co-operative has been working in this space for quite some time. He says the recognition of his title showcases how data is becoming a larger and larger part of all businesses’ operations, regardless of what kind of business they are.

“At Foodstuffs, we are using data to help us become one of the most customer driven retailers in the world. It allows us to drive better decision making and keep the ship afloat as efficiently and as effectively as possible. Even though we sell groceries, we are essentially a data business, every decision we make from what stock we have on our shelves, to what price it is, to the layout of the store, to how does the product get to the store, all of that is based on a whole heap of data and information.”

Foodstuffs get around 2.7 million people a week coming into their stores or through their online
platform and Maz says that the volume of data creates opportunities that are equal to any role he
has held offshore.

Maz says the data opportunities for companies like Foodstuffs are really exciting.

“Sure we don’t have as much data as the big UK or USA retailers but the culture here is just so empowering that the opportunities it creates are as exciting as anything happening in other markets. As New Zealand continues to evolve I think we are going to need all of the expertise that we can get our hands on. The role of that data and analytics is not to replace human beings, it’s to supplement their capabilities. We have just hired our first official first data engineer role in the hundred year history of Foodstuffs. Tomorrow we will need privacy professionals and data ethicists. The day after that we will need experts in machine learning and data science expertise. So rather than taking away people, we’re actually adding people with different skill sets and growing that capability and growing the culture.”

“There’s never been a better opportunity that I can see, to take full advantage of the opportunities that New Zealand is offering right now, particularly if you’ve got that overseas experience, and have worked for organisations that are perhaps ahead of the game in certain areas. Bringing what you know back here means that you can not only fully leverage your knowledge and expertise, but you can also branch off into different areas and improve and augment your own capabilities.”

Maz and his family have settled in well in New Zealand and say they already think of themselves as honorary Kiwi. The family hope to make this their permanent home and Maz says they can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“Moving to New Zealand and taking the job at foodstuffs was the best move I’ve ever made career wise. I’ve enjoyed everywhere that I’ve worked, but this place, I think it was the right place at the right time with my kids, the city, the culture and the country. We are so privileged to be able to call New Zealand our home.”

This content was created in partnership with Foodstuffs North Island. If you would like to know more about the job opportunities that are available at Foodstuffs please see Kea’s job platform.

This report highlight New Zealand has a significant number of offshore and returning Kiwi who can support and grow Aotearoa’s tech sector, particularly addressing gaps in senior leadership and board roles. But we have some challenges to overcome.

Digital ITP Skills Workstream report 2022- Kea New Zealand

Media coverage

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/toni-truslove-nz-businesses-should-consider-geographically-diverse-remote-working/

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/04/new-report-reveals-some-kiwi-ex-pats-fear-being-overqualified-when-returning-home.html