I got handed a jar. Unleashing said jar, my tastebuds exploded. Latesha and Seb are a very clever part of a very clever team creating Raglan Coconut yoghurt. Smear it on your muesli, eat it alone, put it in smoothies or melt it onto your toothbrush, it goes with everything.
Photo kindly supplied by Raglan Coconut Yoghurt
Now breathe in because here I go. It’s Paleo, kosher, gluten free, dairy fee, refined sugar free, preservative free, GMO free and has MILLIONS of probiotics. You know, that stuff your stomach LOVES. As I said, clever. Very very clever. And you can get it here, in Queenstown. I asked Latesha a few questions for you and here they are!
Who are you, how did you end up in Raglan (born there?) We are an entrepreneurial couple who love nature and living a simple, sustainable life. We moved from Auckland to Raglan because we wanted to trade in city hustle & bustle for more time outside, a caring, close-knit community, and great waves! (Mr Coconut is the real surfer, I just play in the baby waves but it’s fun!) We moved here nearly 3 years ago and bought our first house last year – it’s a small one-bedroom-wonder with a big section and lots of potential. Although at the moment half the house is storage space for all our yoghurt paraphernalia!
What is Raglan to you? It’s home. People are real here, they care and they like making a difference. There are many creative souls who make beautiful things – recycled footwear, clothing, cards, jewellery, sculptures … it’s a quirky place with a big heart. The beaches are gorgeous and always wow you with how amazing nature is. I can’t see us living anywhere else at the moment, it’s perfect for us and the kind of life we want to create.
Yoghurt? Why? Seb and I have always been big yoghurt fans. We loved thick Greek-style yoghurt and had it on our breakfast, in smoothies, and with dessert. But we started noticing that Seb was reacting to the yoghurt (and other forms of dairy) – he would have a snuffly nose and feel almost like he had a cold after eating it. So I thought I’d look into other options. When I heard it was possible to make coconut yoghurt, I thought I’d give that a go. It took about 3-4 months before I really nailed it, yoghurt is such a sensitive product. But soon enough we had a creamy, delicious dairy-free yoghurt! We are now both almost 100% dairy-free and feel really good without it in our diet.
Have you been to Queenstown before? What do you love about it? YES! We won a trip with Jetstar a couple of years ago to Queenstown. The airport has to be the most breath-taking landing spot ever, surrounded by those snowy mountains it’s just like ‘wow’. We did a whole bunch of fun things in Queenstown – jetboat riding, a helicopter trip, ate one of those infamous Fergburgers, spent a night in Arrowtown, and went on the gondola & luge. It was so much fun, we really loved the crispness in the air and the buzzy, happening vibe of the town. Really cool place. Would love to come back sometime soon, I hear the Zipline down there is incredible and we’ve become friends with YUM granola in Wanaka so would be nice to meet up with Sarah and visit our stockist Raeward Fresh. 🙂
Thoughts for the future of your amazing yoghurt empire! Our dream is to build our own yoghurt kitchen (we currently hire a commercial kitchen). Then we’ll have the freedom to create more flavours, experiment, and just generally make our product as awesome as it can be! We’ve launched ‘The Coconut Cookbook‘ as a fundraiser, an e-book with 11 yummy recipes from our Kiwi food heroes who all love using coconut ingredients. http://cookbook.raglancoconutyoghurt.co.nz. We have no shortage of ideas, we just need our own space to make them happen.
Favourite Winter activities Seb loves surfing in winter because the crowds are gone and some big swell comes through Raglan. He’ll head out for a wave most days if it’s looking good. I become a snuggle-by-the-fire-and-write person over winter, and also love using the evenings to cook and make things. We do still both hit the beach for walks, we just make sure to wear beanies and extra layers! We also love playing games so often host dinner & games nights with our friends in winter, it’s a good chance to chill out and have a laugh together.
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