Winner of the Social Responsibility Award in the Beauty category
Throughout every facet of the business, Aotea acts in the best interests of their environment and society as a whole, particularly by instilling local cultural values.
Aotea is 100% owned by Māori and is built upon principles of tikanga māoris. The range of products are grown, harvested and formulated on their papakāinga (land) on Aotea (Great Barrier). Their range is made using all natural ingredients and native flora. The brand uses Mānuka honey, Mānuka oil, harakeke seed oil, kawakawa and kūmarhou. They value their employees and ensure that not only are they paid fairly but also that they function in a wānanga space, collaborating with one another and supporting each other.
Aotea provides job opportunities for their community on Aotea, which is why they grow, extract and manufacture all the products onsite rather than outsource this. They are also proud to say that for every year they have been in business they have provided scholarships to their rangatahi māori to attend high school and are in the process of creating more jobs for whānau.
Aotea manufacture every product on Aotea (Great Barrier Island) and are 100% powered by solar panels. They also have a reticulating water system to conserve water. All of their grey water is also used to irrigate their crops. The brand extracts all the oils onsite on their papakāinga (māori land) and also grows all the flora themselves so that the practice is as sustainable as can be. Further there are principles of tikanga māori, like kaitiakitanga (stewards of the natural resources), that they adopt in their business. This means traditional ways of harvesting are implemented, where the bulk of the native flora is retained so the crop can keep healthy. This is also adopted with how they manage their beehives, where at least 1/3 of the honey is left in the hives over the winter so the bees stay healthy (as opposed to stripping the whole hive of the honey).
