From Pacific Palisades to New Zealand and Back Again
There are some stories that feel a little more personal than business news.
This is one of them.
I was recently featured in the Palisadian-Post in a story about Secret Kiwi Kitchen and our journey from New Zealand back to the United States. For me, seeing the headline “Former Rustic Canyon Resident Brings New Zealand Baking To U.S.” was pretty special.
I once lived in Rustic Canyon. My three daughters went to Canyon Charter Elementary School. I shopped at the Gelson’s on Sunset Boulevard, the same store that was later lost in the Palisades Fire.
And now, years later, I'm bringing the little New Zealand baking company I started during the pandemic back home.
From a kitchen in New Zealand to the U.S.
When the pandemic lockdowns changed my career in hospitality marketing, I turned my attention to something I had always loved: food.
I started experimenting with small-batch baking mixes in New Zealand and sharing them with friends and neighbors. What began as a little side project grew into Secret Kiwi Kitchen, and eventually into a business with products on supermarket shelves throughout New Zealand.
I started the company with $1,000 and have been self-funded from the beginning. There have certainly been plenty of challenges along the way, from supply chains and tariffs to figuring out how to scale a food business across the world.
But we've also had some pretty wonderful milestones.
Today, Secret Kiwi Kitchen products are sold in more than hundreds of stores across New Zealand.
And now we're taking the next big step.
Bringing Secret Kiwi Kitchen home
This July, we opened our Southern California warehouse, giving us a base from which to grow Secret Kiwi Kitchen in the U.S.
Later this year, our baking mixes will also be launching in Gelson's stores across Los Angeles.
That part feels particularly meaningful.
Gelson's was part of my everyday life when I lived in Pacific Palisades. Walking into a Gelson's today and seeing Secret Kiwi Kitchen on the shelves feels very different from simply getting a new retail account.
As I told the Palisadian-Post, “I want to head home first.”
The Palisades community has been through so much, and being able to bring something I've built in New Zealand back to a place that was once my home feels incredibly special.
A little bit of New Zealand baking
Secret Kiwi Kitchen is all about bringing the things I love about New Zealand baking to American kitchens.
Our mixes use ingredients I would actually want in my own pantry, including New Zealand ingredients such as Marlborough sea salt. We make everything with the goal of making baking easier without taking away the fun of actually baking.
Our range includes everything from buttermilk pancakes and waffles to scones, cookies, blondies, chocolate cake and our very Kiwi Ginger Crunch.
It's New Zealand baking, packed and made to share with the world.
And now, finally, I'm getting to share it with my home country and the communities I used to live in.
Thank you, Palisadian-Post
A big thank you to Emily McGinn and the Palisadian-Post for sharing our story. It's a pretty wonderful full-circle moment.
Read the full story in the Palisadian-Post:
Former Rustic Canyon Resident Brings New Zealand Baking To U.S.
New Zealand baking. Now making its way home.